His Love, Her Loss
by Shiapark
Summary: When telekinetic Natasha Ascott comes back to Ikebukuro to settle an old score with Yagiri pharmaceuticals, she bumps into some people, or rather, one person she'd sworn never to involve again in her life. And who is that little girl hiding behind her mother's skirt? More importantly, why does she have super strength?
1. Chapter 1

**First Durarara story. Please be nice!**

 **DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN DURARARA.**

"Flight number 2109 bound from Dublin to Tokyo, landing at Gate 3."

"Wow, Mama! Look at everyone around us! They look so different from the people in Ireland!"

"Mama, why did you stop? What's wrong? Are you sure it's nothing?"

"Look, mama! our bags!"

"Yes I can carry my own bag, Mama! I'm four years old!"

We're going by Taxi? Yay! A Taxi!"

"Mama, where are we going to go?"

Natasha Ascott smoothed a hand over her daughter's brown curls in an attempt to tame them, lovingly staring at her joyous delight at all the new sights around them.  
"We're going to a friend's house, and then we'll go to the house I have picked out for us. It's a nice apartment, bigger than the one we had in Dublin! You can keep all your toys there," she said, with a smile strained on her face.

Yes, she loved her daughter's delight, but coming back to Tokyo wasn't really the best thing to do, in her opinion. Not after what happened five years ago. But she had a score to settle, and she needed to be done with this to continue with her life. Whatever little of a life it was, considering Natasha spent the last five years hiding her strengths from the world, and her daughter. When her daughter was born, she'd hoped she wouldn't have inherited anything from her or her father, but she not only had gained her mother's mutation, but also her father's super strength. And this worried her.

If, and knowing them, when Yagiri pharmaceuticals would approach her and her daughter, to torture and conduct experiments on them, she wanted to know they were coming. And wanted to settle the score with them. She wanted to end them, and their twisted ways of messing with people's lives under the pretext of medical research.

And that is why she came back to Ikebukuro. To stop this chase around the world. To live a free life, devoid of running and 'hiding. Devoid of anger and hate. Those who underestimated the love a mother has for her child, a woman has for her lover, a mutant has for its acceptance, would pay dearly.

She wanted to destroy the company that destroyed her relationship with her lover.

She wanted her daughter to be safe, and live in a world where she wouldn't have to hide anymore.

And a tiny part of her, that she tried not to let to the surface, wanted to be in the strong arms of her lover, with his cigarette smoke and his blonde dyed hair.


	2. Chapter 2

"Ahhh Celty! That was a holiday well spent, wasn't it? You're working all the time, it's good to have some time off! Maybe now we can have some peaceful time talking together, where you can vent out all your frustrations to me, and then I will kiss away all your fears, and then carry you into the bedroom bridal style, and then- waaahh! Celty! Quit pulling my cheek!" said Shinra as they was exiting the elevator.

 _"Quit whining, will you, there's someone out there by the door,"_ read Celty's PDA, as she gestured with her head towards the tall, slender and pale woman standing outside Shinra's door, waiting patiently as she listened to a young girl, presumably her daughter, ramble on about butterflies.

The lady's red halo of hair instantly caught Shinra's eye, and he instantly sobered. "Natasha? Is that you?" he asked, hesitatingly, almost unwilling to believe she that she had returned to Ikebukuro, especially after what had happened five years ago.

"Shinra? Oh hey! It's been a while." Said Natasha, smiling warmly, but the smile didn't reach her eyes. Her tired eyes and two large suitcases beside her indicated that she had come from a long distance journey, as noted by Celty, who also realized after hearing her voice that she had a slight Irish accent. But she refrained from typing anything as she wanted to hear the explanation from Shinra about the mysterious red-haired woman standing at their door.

Shinra, however on his count was dumbfounded and simply stared at the lady. Once or twice he'd look down at the girl, who had given him a shy smile and hidden behind her mother's skirt, and then back at her.

He started, "Is she your-"

"Yes she is my daughter." She replied curtly, all her earlier civility gone, replaced by apprehension. Celty noted her tensed shoulders, almost as though she regarded Shinra with hostility, and in an attempt to diffuse the tension, typed, _Do you guys know each other?_

"Of course I do Celty!" said Shinra cheerfully. "She's Natasha Ascott, from my high school. She was in Shizuo's class, and was Shizuo's-"

"Friend." Interrupted Natasha testily.

They stared few moments at each other, before Natasha's shoulders relaxed. "Sorry about that Shinra. You've been nothing but kind to me, and even helped me leave the country. And now I'm standing here arguing when I really should be thanking you for all that you have done."

"Ah, don't sweat it, Natasha. You've been through a lot, I'm sure this town doesn't hold plenty of good memories for you. But more importantly," kneeling down to eye level of the little girl, "What's your name?"

"Sophia. Sophia Ascott," she said shyly, looking at the man in the white coat with interest.

"Nice to meet you Sophia," said Shinra, extending his right hand, intending to shake her hand.

"Sophie, don't-"

 _Crrcckk._

"Ow ow ow ow ow, that's some strength for a little girl! Wait," absorbing the implications of what he had just said, he turned to Natasha with eyes wide, "You don't mean to tell me," looking at Sophia again, and back at her mother, " No way," looking back Sophia. "I see the resemblance,"

Pointedly looking at Natasha, who had her eyes wide open at that spectacle, he addressed the elephant in the room.

"Is she Shizuo's daughter?"

.


	3. Chapter 3

Shinra, Celty, Natasha and Sophia were sitting in Shinra's living room, with the latter apologizing profusely to the former.

"I'm so sorry Shinra-san. I really didn't mean to! It's something that just happens!"

"It's okay, Sophie-chan. It really is. Your dad ends up doing a lot more damage than this anyway," said Shinra, consoling the poor child as Celty wrapped a bandage around his right hand.

"You know my Daddy? Really?"

Celty, unable to contain her curiosity any longer, finally typed out _,"Shinra, Shizuo has a child? And he never even told us? And who is that lady sitting over there? Shizuo's lover? Wife? You really need to go beyond that explanation."_

Shinra looked at Natasha, gesturing Celty's PDA to her.

"Sophia," she called out to her daughter, "Shinra-san has some games on his play station. Would you like to play on them?

"No. I wanna hear about Daddy! You never talk about him! You only say he's really strong, and then you never say anything!" said Sophia, close to tears.

"Sophie-chan," said Shinra gently, understanding Natasha's predicament, "Your Mama and your Daddy can't be together right now ,but I'm sure your Mama will explain it some day. Just not today. Look at how tired she is! Let her rest for a while! You rested in your taxi ride and in the flight, didn't you?"

"Yeah…" said Sophie, relenting.

After Shinra set up the play station for Sophie, he sat down on the sofa next to Celty and in front of Natasha. Celty was surprised at his maturity. Normally he would behave like a child and demand things be explained right away, but judging by his expression, it wasn't a thing to be taken lightly.

Before Shinra could start, Natasha spoke, "You aren't human." She said this to Celty. It wasn't a question, nor an exclamation. She stated it simply, with the ghost of a smile on her face.

Celty paused for a while, and turned towards Shinra. Shinra adjusted his glasses with his uninjured hand and said, "Sharp as ever, Tasha-chan. You figured it out right away!" Celty was taken aback at Shinra's nonchalance. He looked at her reassuringly, and she figured that is she was someone who had a relationship with Shizuo, and Shinra's trust, then she should enough faith in the woman not to run away if she showed her what lay under her helmet.

She lifted her helmet, as Natasha's eyes widened slightly on realizing that there was nothing underneath except black smoke. Sophie's eyes were glued to the screen, with her back to them, so she wasn't concerned about her reaction. She waited with bated breath for the mother's reaction.

"A Dullahan." She said with a hint of surprise in her voice. "I knew Shinra was a bit weird, considering his father's antics and his own profession, but never did I imagine that he'd be living with a dullahan!"

" _You know about my kind?"_ asked Celty, surprised.

"I'm Irish. I was raised with tales of your kind. There was no way I wouldn't recognize one," said Natasha, her eyes still a bit wide.

 _"_ _But you understood I wasn't human. How?"_

"I'm not sure, but somehow I felt a connection to you, as though we were the same. I'm not exactly human either, you know."

 _"_ _What do you mean?_

"I think it'll be easier if I just showed you."

And saying that, the helmet in Celty's hands just rose into the air. There was no support from beneath, nothing. It was levitating in free air.

Celty pulled her hands back in fear, and all her smoke back to herself, hoping it was an illusion. But it wasn't. Her helmet was floating in air.

 _"_ _A-Are you a-an Alien?"_

"No no no!" said Natasha, shaking her head vehemently, red hair swishing back and forth. "Not at all! I'm a mutant. A telekinetic, to be precise." she said reassuringly.


	4. Chapter 4

**People! Please review! How are my OCs? Are the Durarara characters coming out OOC? How are Natash'as powers? Please let me know!**

 **And a longer chapter this time - with our favorite blond bartender turned boodyguard!**

 **DISCLAIMER - I DO NOT OWN DURARARA.**

 **CHAPTER 4**

"What do you mean it's true love? HUH? You decided to borrow money to spend on her, and then she runs away, and you can't repay the debt you took, and after ALL THAT shit you have the audacity to say it's TRUE LOVE? What sort of an idiot are you? HUH? You're such an idiot it makes me want to punch your face! But like I've said before, I-"

 _Creak._

"Hate- "

 _Clang._

"VIOLENCE!"

 _Bang._

And the debtor flew away after being hit by the lamppost, courtesy of the infamous former-bartender-turned-bodyguard, Shizuo Heiwajima.

And somewhere on the other side of town, an informant donned on his trademark fur coat, intending to pay his dear old nemesis and his town a visit.

Things were definitely not going Shizuo's way.

"Table for two, eh Tom-san?" asked Simon with his customary smile.

"Thank you Simon!" said Tom, taking a seat across from Shizuo. It was evening, and they had decided on dinner at Russia Sushi.

"What's up, Shizuo, you seem out of sorts today," observed Tom. Shizuo wasn't the type to uproot lampposts on civilians. There was a time when he did, however ever since the Slasher incident he'd considerably calmed down, preferring to simply throw people instead of destroying property.

"I don't know, Tom-san. I woke up with a headache today. It's weird, because it's never happened to me before."

"Have you taken some painkillers?"

"I did, yes. But you know that they don't work me."

Saying so, Shizuo leaned back and sighed. He debated whether or not to tell Tom-san about the memory he'd encountered in the morning, when he slipped on his purple shades. He had promised himself that he would bury that memory deep in the recesses of his mind, because it only brought him pain when he would think of it, and cause him to act irrationally. Well, more irrational than normal.

That morning he was reminded of the woman who had bought him those shades.

Of a woman who was as strange, if not stranger than him, for she could move objects without touching them.

Of a woman, who, like him, longed to be accepted into society.

Of a woman with a halo of bright red hair and pale skin.

Of a woman, who, in his opinion, would be happier without him, for she deserved better.

Of a woman named Natasha Ascott.

"Tasha-chan, you should spend the night here! The guest room is unoccupied, so you and Sophie-chan can stay there for the night! Your new house is quite a distance from here anyway. Celty can help you there the first thing tomorrow morning! Isn't that right, Celty?" said Shinra enthusiastically.

 _Of course, Natasha. You should spend the night here. Sophie is already asleep anyway, it doesn't make sense for you to leave so late._

"Thank you very much, Celty, Shinra. I really appreciate it."

"Ah don't mention it! You're an old friend anyway, regardless of Shizuo being in the picture or not."

 _I must say, I had no clue Shizuo had a girlfriend. He seems so awkward around girls, and here I get to know that not only you have dated for three years, but also had a child!_

"Ahhhhh… He doesn't know. About Sophie."

Silence. Shinra and Celty stared at her in shock. Shinra was the first to recover, "But Tasha-chan, why didn't you tell him that you were pregnant when you left the country? I'm sure he would've asked you to stay with him!"

"I didn't want to be a burden on him. He asked me to leave, so I left. I had no intention of trapping him in a situation where he would be hunted down by research companies and the like. Shinra, you know what my life is like. Do you really think Shizuo would've adapted to it?"

 _I know Shizuo. He would've taken responsibility for his actions. He loves his family, and will stop at nothing to keep them safe. He obviously would've had a good reason to ask you of something like that._

"Anyway," sighed Natasha, it's over now. There's no going back. Thank you for letting me and my daughter spend the night. Goodnight." She turned to lift her daughter's asleep form from the sofa, and went to the guestroom indicated by Shinra.

Shizuo's headache worsened, it was obvious at the way he was picking at his food, as noted by Tom. "Shizuo, why don't you take tomorrow off? There are no troublesome clients tomorrow, as far as I can recall."

"Are you sure about that Tom-san?"

"Yup," taking a bite of his sushi, and continuing, "Go visit Kasuka or something. I read something about him going on a break in the entertainment section of the paper today. You've been working quite hard, you should get a vacation."

"….maybe that isn't a bad idea," said Shizuo, thinking about it. Meeting Kasuka was out of the question, though, since even though he was on a break, he still needed to meet his agents and attend photoshoots. Maybe he's go visit Shinra and Celty. He was more interested in meeting Celty, as Shinra often annoyed him to no end. But he owed the young doctor-in-training quite a lot, so he decided to stop by at their place tomorrow. Yes, he'd do that.

Thinking thus, his headache decreased a bit, and he finished the rest of his meal making small talk with Tom, looking forward to tomorrow.

But to look forward to tomorrow, one needs to get past today, which was going to be tough thing to do, considering the fact that an informant in a fur coat decided to waltz into Russia Sushi, intent on ordering his favorite ootoro.

"Oh, Shizu-chan, what a surprise! I had NO idea that you'd be in here of all places!" came Izaya's mocking voice.

Shizuo's headache returned and with new zeal, he picked up the table in front of him veins popping out his forehead, screaming,"IZAYAAAAAA-KUUUN!"

Shizuo side-stepped Tom and ran towards Izaya, intending to throw the table at him. Simon suddenly appeared in view, caught the table thrown by him easily in one hand, saying,"Shizuo! Fighting is bad! Eat sushi! Sushi make you feel good!"

"Outta my way!" saying thus he moved past Simon and charged at Izaya, who had picked up his order and was on his way out.

"Some other day, Shizu~chan!" saying this, he leapt across gracefully into an alley. As Shizuo followed him, Izaya took a sharp turn onto the main road, and waved mockingly at Shizuo from the other side. As Shizuo, in rage, tried to run across the road to catch him.

Suddenly Shizuo stopped. He wasn't sure why, but he thought he felt something in his chest, a bit of pain. But only a bit. When he looked down, he saw red. Red liquid. Blood. The vision around his eyes started to blur, as he saw the flea run away, but not in his cheerful way, indicating that he hadn't been the one to shoot him. As he looked up, he saw a person at the top of the skyscraper in front of him. A person, whose long hair swished around her as she ran away from her sniping position. A woman.

As he collapsed, he saw Tom and Shinra running towards him.

And everything went black.

 **CLIFFHANGER! Liked it? Hated it? Either way, please leave a review!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Yay! I got a review! But I would really like some more!**

 **So here's the fateful meeting between Shizuo and Sophie. Hope you like it!**

 **DISCLAIMER - I don't own Durarara**

Shizuo woke up with an incredible urge to punch the lights out of the tone-deaf person who was humming the same damn tune repeatedly. His eyes opened, and as expected, he saw the underground doctor cleaning his scalpels above the wash basin, humming tunelessly. He coughed, to get Shinra's attention.

"Ah Shizuo! Up already? You healed faster than the time you were shot by those yellow scarves delinquents!"

Shizuo, wincing, got up from the bed, clutching his chest a bit. There was pain, surprisingly, unlike the last time he had been shot.

Shinra, as though reading the confusion on face, explained, "The bullet you were shot with was coated with a stimulant which causes your nerve endings to become very sensitive to pain. So it would do you good to lie still for some more time, to allow the stimulant to leave your system."

"Tom-san?" asked Shizuo, with a vague recollection of his former senpai running forward towards him across that road.

"He and Simon got you here. He wanted to stay, but I persuaded him to leave, since it was getting late," said Shinra, with some uneasiness. A bead of sweat rolled down his brow, and he realized that he needed to get Shizuo out of here as soon as possible to avoid his meeting with his unknown family.

Not that he didn't want him to meet his family. He wanted Shizuo to meet Natasha and explain the reasons for his actions. He wanted him to lift Sophie high up in the like the proud father he knew Shizuo would be if he met her. Most of all, he wanted Shizuo to be happy. And from what he knew about Shizuo, he was the happiest when around people he loved and who loved him back.

Shinra had no doubt that Sophie would love Shizuo. Natasha would take some time, but that would work out too. But now that Natasha had given strict instructions about not telling Shizuo, he didn't feel right telling him at the moment. He'd tell him some other day, sure. But not now.

He heard the door being pulled open, and there was Celty standing there, with fresh bandages.

 _Shizuo, how are you feeling?_ She typed out.

"There's a bit of pain, but otherwise I'm fine. I can leave soon enough, can't I Shinra?"

"Sure you can! But let's do a routine check-up first."

He shone a torch in Shizuo's eyes and rushed through the procedure, because he knew that Shizuo really hated these things. But also to get him out of his house fast enough. Celty also got the hint and answered Shizuo's questions to her in brief sentences.

This did not go unnoticed by Shizuo. Normally Shinra and Celty were welcoming to him, except for the times when he interrupted their (Shinra's) private moments. But if he was injured, Shinra never turned him away. Shizuo decided to let it slide this time, and reached out to grab a cigarette from the carton in his pocket.

He was about to pull one out when he saw a girl standing outside the room, yawning away. She was a cute little girl, he to admit, with curly brown hair, purple pajamas, and was holding the ear of her rabbit plushie with one hand. When she stopped yawning she looked at him, and Shizuo was startled for a minute to see beautiful green eyes, the same ones on Natasha. That couldn't be, could it? He and Natasha were done years, ago, there was no way that little girl would look like her. Maybe he was hallucinating. Yeah, it was those stimulants making him believe all sorts of weird things.

He kept staring at her, and she stared back. Celty's back towards the girl, so she didn't notice her at first, but when she saw Shizuo looking at something behind her, she stopped typing on her PDA and looked behind, to be met with Sophie's wide eyes.

Celty began flailing her arms wildly, before realizing she had no head to speak with, and so she frantically started typing something. Luckily for her, Shinra noticed Sophia standing at the door and started rambling.

"Ahhh Shizuo! It seems that you have met my niece Sophie! Sophie-chan! This is Shizuo-san! My friend! He had a bit of an accident, but he will be fine! I'll take care of him!"

When she heard the word accident, Sophie's ears perked up. "Shinra-san! Please let me help! I can help! I hurt you very badly in the morning, please let me help!"

Hearing this, Shizuo looked at Shinra, and took note of the bandage covering Shinra's right hand, and wondered aloud, "How could a little girl hurt your arm, Shinra?" Looking back at her, he asked, "What happened?"

Tears welled up in Sophie's eyes as she recounted the tale," Shinra-san wanted to shake my hand and I held it too hard. I'm so sorry Shinra-san!"

As if on cue, Shizuo swooped down, disregarding the pain in his chest, and picked her up. "Hey hey, it's okay. Shinra get's a little annoying sometimes, but that's how he is. He'll be fine in no time and get back to be his annoying self soon enough," he said, in an almost soothing voice. Later on, he would question himself on how he instinctively knew what to do.

He looked down at Sophie nestled safely in his arms, looking up at him, and was about to smile back at her, when he looked up to Shinra, and remember what he had said about Sophie being his niece. Shizuo instead grimaced, and set her down on the floor. Sure enough the little girl has a father who would console her in such times, he thought.

Shinra and Celty, on their part, were bewildered. On one part, they were beside themselves with joy, that Shizuo knew how to deal with a child, his own child, unbeknowest to him. On the other side… he did not know she was his child. But then again, that was the only explanation for why he was having no trouble hugging her while any other grown man would be gasping for air already.

Shinra thanked the gods for his friend's, well, lack of deductive skills. Shizuo wasn't exactly an idiot, but he wasn't sharpest knife in the kitchen either. Realizing that he still hadn't asked Sophie about the reason she had gotten up, he bent down to her level and asked, "What happened, Sophie-chan? Weren't you asleep?"

"I got up, but then I was thirsty, and I wanted water."

"Ah, okay then! Let's get you some water!" he said, picking her up and leading her out into the kitchen, leaving Celty and Shizuo in the medical room.

"What about your mom? Is she up as well?" asked Shinra hesitatingly. Shizuo was home, and he had met Sophie. The last thing he wanted right now was for Natasha would meet him as well. She was tired, jet-lagged, and, though she refused to admit it, still hurting from five years ago. He wanted to give her space, before he introduced the whole family to each other.

"No, she's still sleeping." Said Sophie, yawning a bit.

 _Good_ , he thought. _Hope she doesn't wake up before Shizuo leaves._

He placed Sophie on the floor when they reached the kitchen, and picked up a glass. He poured some water into it, and handed it Sophie. She drank all of it, and he then carried her back into the guest room without further incident.

When he returned to the medical room, Shizuo was preparing to leave, with Celty explaining about how Shinra's cousin from Dublin had come for some work to Tokyo for some work and had left his daughter Sophie in his care.

 _Ireland,_ thought Shizuo. Where Celty is from. _And so is Natasha._

He shook his head impatiently and concentrated on packing up his clothes and his cigarettes. He then waved goodbye to Celty and Shinra, and on remembering the latter's niece, smiled softly. She was a really cute kid, and if she hadn't been Shinra's niece, he would've actually had no problems being her father figure.

Too bad she probably already had a father, who is in town for some work. Still maybe he'd come back tomorrow to pay her a visit. But best not to get too attatched, since she'd be going back soon to Ireland. Maybe if he ever meets her father, he'd give him Natasha's name and find out about how she's doing. Maybe. He still isn't sure.

It's been a while since he thought about her, as he best avoided the topic, even in his head. She was a wonderful woman who deserved someone better, someone who could protect her from all those who were after her mutations. She had called them unfortunate, as she felt she could never be accepted into society because of them. Shizuo had called them a gift, something he felt he could empathize with.

Tried as he might, his brain wouldn't shut up about his memories with her. He decided there was no point uprooting lampposts and swinging them at people in his anger, so he just let his brain be and allowed himself that one respite today. Tomorrow, he'd focus on something else. He'd stop by at Shinra's and get some cake for his niece.

Yes, that seemed like a plan.


	6. Chapter 6

**Okay so I have three followers, which is great! But please do remember to leave a review! It's quite a big project, and I'm getting a bit worried about characters being in character or not. And if anyone's interested in beta-ing this, please send me a PM. It would be great to have beta for this story!**

 **So this chapter is Izaya-centric. Hope you like it!**

 **And PLEASE remember to leave a review!**

 **DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN DURARARA.**

 _So it seems that there's someone else out for Shizu-chan's blood, and their methods are definitely not up my alley,_ thought the informant, as he walked back to Shinjuku. He was in no way concerned about Shizuo, not at all, but it did intrigue him that he was not the only person in the city out for the protozoan's blood. Although it would have been nice if the bullet had actually killed him.

But no, Shizuo Heiwajima was not the type to die so easily, he knew that. So maybe this entity did not know Shizuo all that well, and was new in the city. What HAD the brute done to earn the ire of a newcomer?

A brief thought passed through his mind about the gangs going haywire, but a quick check on the Dollars forum indicated that everything was normal in the community. He saw a few yellow scarves, but none actively trying to seek trouble.

It may also be that this new entity may have been trying to flag out a warning. _Mess with us, and you'll pay dearly._ Scary, he thought amusedly. And there's the fact that the assailant ran away quickly, and did not wait to see if her victim had died not. Assuming, of course, that the assailant was female, considering the fact that when she had turned to run away, her long brown hair had swished behind her.

 _Did this company take a debt or something from Tom-san's company? And couldn't pay them back? But then wouldn't it be easier to target Tom-san itself? And watch Shizu-chan go on a rampage?_

Contrary to Erika-chan's claims, he really did not care what happened to the brute. But he was an informant, and knowing about the city's activities was his job. Shizu-chan had an enemy, and in all liklehood it would probably come to him for information. It was only a matter of time before he was included in the inner circle of events.

He whipped out one of the many phones he carried on his person and typed on the Dollars forum:

 _Good evening everybody! Kanra-chan here! Did you guys here? Shizuo Heiwajima has been shot! Again! And this time it was near Russia Sushi!_

And watched the chaos unfold on the chatroom.

* * *

 **Kanra** : _Good evening everybody! Kanra-chan here! Did you guys here? Shizuo Heiwajima has been shot! Again! And this time it was near Russia Sushi!_

 **Taro Tanaka** : _What? Again? Was it the Yellow Scarves this time as well?_

 **Bakyura** _: Good evening every—What's this I hear about Shizuo Heiwajima getting shot?_

 **Saika:** _This is terrible! Is he hurt very badly?_

 **Kanra:** _Well, he was unconscious when he was shot, so I really don't know. Maybe this time he's dead for good._

 **Taro Tanaka:** _Really? That's very sad news!_

 **Setton:** _Good evening everybody! And Kanra, stop spreading rumours like that! It would take a lot more a mere bullet to kill someone as strong as Shizuo._

 **Kanra** _: Ah! But you see Setton-san, you don't know the whole story. It seems that the bullet was coated with some sort of a stimulant. They say that he was stumbling an in a lot of pain!_

It's true. Shizuo did feel quite a bit of pain, as evident from his expression when he was shot. Ah, well, Celty had just confirmed his suspicions- Shizuo had survived, and by looks of it, had undergone treatment at Shinra's place as usual.

 **Setton:** _I'm sure Shizuo will pull through. Don't worry everybody, like I said before, it will be a while before Shizuo kicks the bucket._

 **Taro Tanaka:** _But… shot with a pain stimulant which is enough to make him unconscious for a while, Setton-san, are you sure he'll be okay?_

 **Saika:** _But who would be after Heiwajima-san? Other than his explosive temper, he seems like a genuinely nice man._

 **Bakyura:** _Are you sure it's not the yellow scarves, Kanra-san?_

Ah, trust Kida-kun to suspect that scavenged gang of his. He thought about negating his fears, since he did not believe it to be gang work.

Actually, now that he though about it, the woman who shot Shizuo did not even glance back for a minute to ensure that Shizuo was dead. One might say that she was an amateur, but he had hit Shizuo from quite a height, in the first attempt, from the top of a building. So she is most likely a professional. Who had been instructed only to shoot him only as a warning, considering that Shizuo Heiwajima's endurance was legendary.

Therefore, there was no way it would be gang work. Gangs are never this organized, not rich enough to pull together enough resources to hire a sniper. And they're definitely not smart enough to shoot Shizuo as a warning and face the consequences of their actions.

Whoever it was, Izaya was sure it was an organization with enormous wealth and influence. And based in Ikebukuro, considering they knew of Shizuo had his strengths.

 **Kanra:** _I don't know Bakyura-chan. I have some theories of my own, but I'm not gonna share them with you._

 **Taro Tanaka:** _But-but Kanra-san!_

 **Kanra** _: Ah…. I'm tired now, I'm going. Good night to you all! Nice talking to you!_

 **Setton:** _I think I'll go too. Good night!_

 **Taro Tanaka:** _Goodnight!_

 **Saika:** _Goodnight! Everyone stay safe!_

 **Bakyura:** _'_ _Night!_

It did not escape him that Mikado thought his departure from the chatroom was abrupt. But if the people he anticipated to be behind this were really all that influential, then he must guard his suspicions about them, at least until he knew for sure who they were. Once he got to know their names and gained their trust, then he could plan his next moves with the Dollars.

Now, he thought while getting into the elevator to reach his office in Shinjuku, all he needed to do was wait until this organization would come to him.

And judging by the men standing outside, with stoic faces and hands behind their back, facing forward with a menacing aura, they were already here.

Izaya smiled. This was going to become a hell lot more interesting.

* * *

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	7. Chapter 7

**People! Reviews Please! I need to know how my OCs are, and is my writing style okay! Are the characters OOC? Is the stroy moving too slow? REVIEWS MAKE ME VERY HAPPY!**

 **DISCLAIMER - I DO NOT OWN DURARARA**

"Good morning, Celty!" said Natasha cheerfully. "Here, let me take that," taking the plates with warm eggs and toast on them. Celty had recently taken to cooking, and while she couldn't eat anything, she enjoyed making food for people, the more the merrier. Although she was bit apprehensive about being without her helmet around Sophia. Natasha had however, spent a good half hour on trying to alleviate her fears.

"This is a child who has super strength and can make objects move with her mind. Are you implying that she might be afraid of anything supernatural?"

It was decided that Sophia would be introduced to Celty without the helmet at the breakfast table. Shinra was also on board with the idea, Celty's lack of head wasn't something to be hidden, but something to be embraced as her beauty.

At the table, Sophie's reaction was as Natasha predicted, it was acceptance. Perhaps it was because she herself wasn't normal. Or because she had found someone else who had an element of supernaturality within herself, just like her, and felt a common sisterhood. Most of all it was because of her childish innocence, which enabled her to accept the abnormal with the normal.

What she was most fascinated with, was the smoke. Natasha struggled to feed her an omelette, since the child couldn't sit still and wanted to touch the smoke, see if it were real. Ultimately she gave up, and Celty picked up Sophie and took her to the living room where she made all sorts of shapes for her with the shadows. Sophie had found a new playmate, and Celty was more than happy to engage.

It was after Natasha had finished her meal and was preparing to go into the guest room to pack her things that Sophie dropped the bomb.

"Mama! Did you know? Shinra-san's friend came home yesterday! He was badly hurt!"

"Really?" said Natasha carefully, as she remembered that Shinra worked as an underground doctor and had some shady patients. But he never went as far as to introduce them as friends.

Shinra and Celty froze. This was the moment they hoped would never come. Celty was a bit worried about Sophie remembering the events that transpired last night, but Shinra convinced her that children have a very small memory span, and they hardly remember anything that happens at night.

"Yeah! This friend's name was Shizu-something."

 _Thud._

Natasha dropped the bag she was carrying. She looked at Shinra with wide eyes, and he was afraid she'd yell at him or something, about how he was irresponsible that he had introduced Sophie to Shizuo despite her asking him repeatedly not to do so.

Instead, panic gave way to worry and she said,"Shizuo was hurt? How? What happened? He isn't the kind to get hurt so easily, right? Shinra?"

"Um-umm it really wasn't anything serious Tasha-chan, just-"

 _He was shot._ Typed Celty.

Natasha's eyes widened. Almost involuntarily her eyes filled with tears.

"Tasha-chan…"

Celty got the hint and decided to give the old high school acquaintances some space and picked up Sophie and took her into the living room.

Natasha sat down and choked back a sob. "How bad was it?"

"Ah, Tasha-chan. Shizuo-kun has an endurance level much higher than that of ordinary human. You of all people ought to know that." This information comforted Natasha, but only a little.

"He was shot by a bullet coated with a stimulant which heightens the sensation of pain, but that's fine for Shizuo. Tom-san brought him here - you remember him, don't you—and left soon. Shizuo was unconscious for a while, but he regained his senses soon after."

Relief flood through Natasha. "So he's fine. I'm glad."

Shinra chuckled. "This is Shizuo we're talking about. Nothing's gonna happen to him anytime soon."

"But he was here last night. And met Sophia." She said, her face becoming guarded. "How did he react?"

"You'd have to see it to believe it, Tasha-chan, but I think Shizuo-kun would make a good father," said Shinra, smiling. "He consoled Sophie when she felt bad about hurting my arm, and Sophie even quietened down when he held her!"

"Really." Said Natasha quietly, but did not elaborate further.

"Tasha-chan, I told Shizuo-kun that Sophie was my niece from Ireland, and that my brother had left her here for a while," explained Shinra. "So he doesn't know about you being here. But I do think Shizuo has the right to know about his daughter, considering he got along so well with her. And I have to agree with Celty, Shizuo would make a good father. Not an ideal one, of course, but he would strive to provide the best for her. You know that as well, don't you?"

There was silence for a while, as Natasha pondered over his words. As she opened her mouth to speak, Shinra interrupted.

"I'm not sure what exactly happened between you and Shizuo, since neither he nor you is comfortable talking about it. But please Tasha-chan, do give him another chance. Granted it would be a lifestyle change for both of you, but I think it's a chance that you should take. Shizuo would love you as his wife, and Sophie as his daughter. I can guarantee this."

"I believe you, Shinra," said Natasha, and with a deep breath, continued, "I'd like to give a life with Shizuo a chance too, but not now. There's a lot going on now. And considering the gun-shot last night," she looked straight into Shinra's eyes," It's going to get bigger. My guess is that they know we're here. And want to find us. So they targeted Shizuo. They will not get away with this," Natasha stood abruptly and walked out of the room, determined to fix this mess for once and for all.

Once it was over, then maybe, maybe, she would think of introducing Shizuo to his daughter. But not now. She had to keep her beloved and her daughter safe. If Shizuo got to know the truth about Shinra's 'extended family' he would raise hell in Ikebukuro, making him an even easier target. No, it's best this way.

As Shinra saw her walk out, with the long-lost fire flame alight in her eyes, her red hair flaming behind her, he remembered just how much havoc Natasha Ascott could, and would create to protect the ones she loved.

But just as a safety precaution, he wrote down Natasha's new address on a piece of paper, intending to give it Shizuo later. He'd say it was his brother's new place. Of course Shizuo wouldn't go, as according to social etiquette it would be weird, but it would give Shinra a peace of mind that when worst comes to worst, Shizuo would know where they lived.

After all, there was only one person in Ikebukuro more frightening than an angry Shizuo Heiwajima – an angrier Natasha Ascott.

* * *

"Thank you so much for everything," said Natasha to Celty, as the latter had not only carried the luggage to their new place, but also lifted it seven flights of stairs to their new apartment. Natasha kept trying to help, but Celty would brush her off, saying that it really was no big deal, and she never did get tired.

Once they reached the apartment, Celty got a job request and had to leave, but not before hugging Sophie and giving Natasha her personal number, telling her to call if anything happens.

Natasha and Sophie bid her farewell and got down to work – organizing the place.

As Natasha had promised Sophie earlier, the apartment was bigger than the one in Dublin, and had more space for toys. There were a few cupboards from the earlier tenant, and mother and daughter spent the afternoon levitating the cupboards and placing it in all sorts of places around the house. Well Natasha did, Sophie tried to keep up with her mother but got tired after a while – her mother's telekinetic abilities were really something. She remembered once her mother had levitated a moving car with no effort because it was going to run over her friend as they were crossing the road. They had to leave town because of it, but it was pretty cool.

* * *

Shizuo was confused, to say the least. Yesterday someone had targeted him with a gun, and had shot him a with a pain stimulant, not aiming to kill, but just cause pain. Shinra's cousin, someone whom he'd never even heard of, dropped in without warning and left his daughter with him. The next day, he'd supposedly picked her up and gone to live in another apartment.

And Shinra had given him the name of the apartment, and its address. Why? What purpose did it serve, he contemplated, as he sat in the park eating the cake he had gotten earlier for Shinra's niece. He'd called Tom earlier, thanking him for his help yesterday, which Tom had brushed off, saying that he should take the next two days off to recover, and would hear no complaints.

It wasn't that Shizuo loved his job, it was more of the fact that he didn't have anybody to spend his days off with. His job gave him something productive to do, while his holidays were mostly spent at home, lounging about. If he were outside and saw the flea, he'd chase him around for a while, but that's it.

He'd gone to Russia Sushi after, and thanked Simon. He asked the Russian what he'd seen at the moment he'd been shot, and he told him the same thing: woman on top of the building who shot him, ran away. But apparently she had gotten into a helicopter and flown away, which was why Simon hadn't gone after her.

What a strange two days it had been. And a gut feeling told him that things were going to get even stranger. And surprisingly, his gut feeling also told him that the flea was not behind it, which was what made it a little scary.

Getting shot was no big deal. It had happened before. He could handle anything the flea could throw at him. Izaya was capable of anything. Then why the fear?

A chilling breeze suddenly swept by him, and he shivered involuntarily, an out-of-character trait for him. Then he remembered where he had felt this chill before.

He'd felt it for the first time five years ago, when his gut feeling told him he shouldn't leave home, since Natasha had the flu, and was throwing up a lot.

 _Go to work_ , she had said. _Somebody has to pay the rent of the apartment we're sharing, right? I'll be fine, it's just the flu,_ she'd smiled weakly.

After a great deal of persuasion on her side and hesitation on his side, he had left for his job at the bar, with Natasha promising to eat the sushi he had brought home for her, from the then newly opened Russia Sushi.

 _It's a nice place, I'll take you there someday,_ he'd said.

That was when he felt the chill, his gut feeling telling him not to go, but he went anyway.

He came home later that night to a house ravaged by a tornado, and devoid of human presence.

* * *

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	8. Chapter 8

**This chapter is from Izaya's POV.**

 **To be honest I actually had no idea how I wanted to end this chapter until my fingers decided to act on their own. So this ending may be a bit weird, but please bear with me!**

 **And remember to leave a review about your thoughts, particularly on this chapter. It's my favorite one to date, but it may not suit everyone's palate. Enjoy! :)**

"Seitarou Yagiri, president of Yagiri Pharmaceuticals, and the honourable guardian to my secretary Namie-san. To what do I owe this pleasure?" said Izaya, with arms splayed out and displaying his characteristic smirk as he walked towards his desk, accessing the man sitting on the sofa in front of him, his cane by his side, his suit immaculate, and his trademark monocle perched on his frowning nose.

 _By the looks of it,_ thought Izaya, _he isn't very happy to be here. Perhaps coming to me was his last resort._

"Aren't you the sort of person who likes to declare why I am here before I do so myself?", he said a bit irritably. Izaya blinked, astonished.

Contrary to popular belief, which portrayed him to be a mastermind and control freak, he actually wasn't the latter. He loved humans, and loved it even more when they surprised him. If he predicted a move and a human would not adhere to it, instead choosing to carve out their own path from the erstwhile ordinary, it would delight him to no end and he would then dedicate hours and hours on researching that particular human, trying to find out what made him tick.

This was what enamoured him most about humans – their unpredictability. Except Shizu-chan, however. Anytime he would make the statement,"I love humans," it was always accompanied by the sub text, _except Shizu-chan. I really hate him._

So this information broker, who was, one of the very few times in his successful career taken by surprise, smiled widely, a genuine one. Namie, who looked at him from the galley above, sighed in annoyance. She really wanted to go home earlier that day, take a bath and scroll through the Seiji's cell phone messages, which she had obtained by placing a bug on it, but that would have to wait.

Her uncle had amused Izaya. Now Izaya would stop at nothing to get to the bottom of his business.

Terrible day to have not taken the sick leave.

He had not predicted Seitarou to make an appearance anytime soon. _Had he figured out that Celty's head was with him?_ A quick glance to the book case indicated a slight reflection of light – he sighed inwardly in relief. The jar was still there. Then about Namie? No, that man was too obsessed with his company profits to look at his niece as nothing except his successor. Oh, my. Something big has happened in Ikebukuro and he hadn't been on the loop. Either his skills were rusting, or he was up against someone who was as skilled as him in the art of deception.

Seitarou coughed twice to gain Izaya's attention, and continued. "You seem not to know. Ah, alright then. I won't make a derogatory comment about your callousness this time, considering that she has indeed taken many precautions to ensure her entry in the country was unnoticed."

Izaya blinked again. Just who was he talking about? He was an information broker who worked independently, not a government-allied agent who would have details on all the foreigners who entered Japan. However, his curiosity was piqued about this mysterious foreigner. He leaned forward, wanting to know more.

Seitarou sighed at Izaya's ignorance. Judging all that he had heard about the informant, it was hard to believe that he had not the slightest idea about the whereabouts of his former high school classmate. Nevertheless, he persevered, " She was in your high school, in your class too."

"That's not being fair, Seitarou-san." Said Izaya irritably, crossing his arms, "there were a lot of exchange students at Raira. Not to mention that a few of my own classmates left the country to study abroad once they were done with high school."

Seitarou raised his eyebrows. This was serious. If Izaya himself did not know about that woman, then she must've hidden herself quite well, especially after what happened five years ago. A lot of his time was currently being spent on researching the dullahan and her head, but a small fraction of his mind had always been dedicated to that telekinetic and her powers.

He clenched his cane, struggling to maintain his temper. She was good, he had to admit. Good at hiding herself and her daughter, even from the informant. He had arranged to kill off her mother in a car accident, blaming the young girl and her uncontrollable powers for her mother's untimely death, and had almost gotten her to volunteer for experimentation six years ago. Almost. Before that blonde brute showed up. After that she'd refuse to come to the labs, preferring to stay with him, attend that high school, live with him, a supposedly happy, normal life.

But she ran away alone. He satisfied himself with that piece of information. She destroyed his dreams of being foremost in the research areas concerning mutants, and in his mind, he had simply repaid the favour by taking away everything that was dear to her.

He prodded the informant for some more time, without mentioning her by name, or her hair colour. Once or twice, in desperation he debated on dropping Shizuo's name, but decided against it. If the informant realized that Shizuo was involved, he'd go all out to search her, and if he found her before he did, there was no telling what Izaya would hold leverage above him in exchange of the information.

He finally gave up after half an hour of gruelling, paying Izaya the designated amount and asking him to never prod in this matter again. He then left with his escorts, but not before throwing a few jabs at the man regarding his skills. Izaya simply smiled, as said what he always did, that he loved humans, and the more they defied his expectations, the more he loved them.

After Seitarou's departure, Izaya looked up at the galley and asked Namie to leave. Namie was a bit confused, it was generally she who had to ask him for permission to leave, and even then he'd coax her into working an hour or two longer. No, scratch that. She always had to ask him for permission to leave. This was the first time he had asked her to go early. She decided not to waste the golden opportunity and left quickly.

After Namie had left, Izaya bolted the door from inside, and sank down on the sofa. He mentally ran through the events in the previous two hours, starting with Shizuo being shot. At the time he genuinely had no clue what would've caused it, he was merely thankful and intrigued by the organization who had undertaken this task. But now that he did, everything clicked in place.

Initially he actually had no clue about what Seitarou was talking about – a female foreigner who had entered Japan recently. He'd thought of the Transporter, but she had come to Japan twenty years ago. There were way too many people she could be categorised into, from a student to a tourist. But he began suspecting the latter wanted something more specific when he spoke very vaguely of her, and his suspicions were confirmed when he had said she was his former female classmate.

Natasha Ascott, the telekinetic.

Of all the people whose routes he he had decided never to trace, the president of Yagiri pharmaceuticals wanted her. After five years. Was she stupid to re-enter the country that had threatened her sanctuary so terribly that she had to leave abruptly without even completing her college degree?

No, she wasn't stupid, he corrected himself. Natasha was in no way stupid. She was, in fact, the only person he had met of his calibre. The only person who could argue with him on equal footing, the only one who could catch up to him.

The only one he considered equal to him.

The one he'd let go to the brute. The one he had help leave the country, unbeknownst to her. The one whom he'd saved today. The only woman, whom, he daresay, thought of higher than his beloved humans.

The one he'd loved enough to let go.

 **AAAAAANND THAT'S WHAT I WAS TALKING ABOUT.**

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	9. Chapter 9

**So this chapter is a flashback... of the Raira High School days of our protagonists. Just for convenience sake, I'm taking Shizuo's reference age as 24, and this chapter had taken place roughly... seven years before the timeline. So in this chapter, everyone's a high school student, aged 17.**

 **ENJOY! AND DON'T FORGET TO LEAVE A REVIEW! REVIEWS MAKE ME HAPPY ! :)**

 **DISCLAIMER - I DO NOT OWN DURARARA.**

"Damn that flea, damn everything about him. Ever since I came to this high school he's been hell bent on ruining my life. Hate him. Hate everything about him. Kill kill kill kill…..huh?"

Shizuo had been storming furiously down the hallway, blazer torn, veins popping out of his head as he made his way back to his classroom. The flea had decided to take a detour on his way to school that day, and had gone and told a gang how he had overheard the infamous Shizuo Heiwajima of Raira High School boasting about how he was more than capable of handling them. Shizuo had, of course, done no such thing, but when it came down to it, he had no choice but to rough it out. In the process, he'd torn his blazer and had bruised his lip. He'd also pulled out the school gates from their hinges, but the security guards were too afraid of him to do anything about it. He had also spent the whole lunch break fighting them, as when they realised that high school brat was actually ridiculously strong, they'd called in reinforcements from other parts of Tokyo. All suffered the same fate – a beating by Shizuo.

Shizuo was angry at the flea, hungry as he hadn't eaten his lunch – since it'd been thrown at the gang members in anger early on in the fight, and upset at himself for not being able to control his anger. All-in-all Shizuo Heiwajima was pissed off. Students and teachers alike realised this and scampered off to their respective classrooms as no one wanted to be thrown from the third floor of the school building.

Shizuo finally found his class and barged into it, intent on yelling his head off at Izaya, and throwing a few tables at him, irrespective of which teacher might be in there. Instead he was met with an almost empty classroom. Almost because the class was empty save for one person who was frantically picking up everything she had dropped onto the floor, flustered due to his anticlimatic entry.

She had dropped everything onto the floor. That wasn't why he had paused with eyes wide open, jaw hanging mid-air. He had that expression in response to the manner he saw her was holding them for a spilt-second before everything fell.

No, she wasn't holding them. _They were floating in the air._

Shizuo paused for a minute, staring at the woman on the floor, who desperately avoided eye contact with him. He tried to recollect what he knew about her – the new transfer student who had joined Raira Academy, probably this week, as he couldn't remember seeing her before that. Her bright red hair, left open and long, was what caught his attention. She obviously wasn't Japanese, he mused, and wondered distractedly what it would be like to touch such beautiful long hair. He blushed and shook his head to clear his errant thoughts _. This wasn't the time to be thinking such things! The woman could make objects fly! In the air! With no support!_

As she turned towards him to pick the phone that she had dropped in front of him, he caught a view of her face, and met her eyes. Entranced, he crouched down onto the floor, and tried to exhibit rare gentlemanly tendencies by picking it up handing it over to her. _Her eyes were green. Bright green. Like the sea._

Her skin was pale, contrast to his tanned one. Her skin was soft, contrast to his callused one.

They stared at one another for a while, wondering why the other hadn't run out of the room to call for help. They were both freaks, he realised. Two of a kind.

It was she who had broken the silence. "Thank you," she said in halting Japanese. She got up, smoothed her skirt, put the phone back from the bag she had picked it up from, along with the diaries that she had been levitating earlier. Before the leaving the classroom, she turned to look back at him. He hadn't moved from his position, she noted, before nodding at him and left.

 _So this is what they called a mutual understanding,_ thought Shizuo. A quick glance at the blackboard told him that they had PE, and everyone would be on the ground playing sports. He decided to forgo the lesson, opting to play hooky. As he stared at her seat next to the window, he realised that _it wasn't her seat at all._

 _It was Izaya's seat._

Just to double check, he went to the seat and picked up the bag kept on it, careful not to disturb anything. He extracted a notebook from it, and sure enough, it was written in neat kanji at the top, _Orihara Izaya_. So she had been spying on the flea. Interesting. He scanned the class, looking around for her seat before realizing that he had, indeed, seen her before. Sitting on the first desk, making notes, as any dedicated student would do. Then why would a good student like her be snooping around in Izaya's bag? Did the bastard have some leverage over her? Something she did not want anyone to know for the fear of tarnishing her reputation? He ground his teeth. The flea couldn't leave anyone damn alone now, could he?

But more importantly, _did he know that she could make things fly?_

 _That was a close escape,_ thought Natasha, as she ran out into the courtyard. No point in running out into the field for PE, the lesson was only ten minutes to getting over. She inadvertently blushed as she remembered staring into the mocha eyes of Shizuo Heiwajima. She shook her head to clear her thoughts and tried to put her thoughts in order, and posed the most important question to herself – why had she stayed with him for as long as she did? When she dropped everything, she should've simply laughed it off, picked everything up, and run outside, without saying a single word. Instead, she'd become flustered, unable to meet his eyes, and when she did meet his eyes, she couldn't look away.

 _And now we're in the same class. Great. Just my luck. Mom said no one should know about my telekinetic abilities, and now TWO people in my class do. He doesn't seem like the kind who would go and rat me out, though,_ she mused.

 _But Izaya hadn't made any calls to Yagiri pharmaceuticals recently, not as far as I could see. That means he hasn't told them about me. Then who was it who told them? It was definitely them in the black car outside home. I should've just flung that car away, far away, but that won't do any good._

She wanted a normal life. Those people from that company were making her life hell by constantly stopping by and talking to her mother. She wanted them to leave her alone. But she was a freak, and freaks deserved to be stared and mocked.

But she thought of her infamous classmate, the one who had helped her pick everything up, and she smiled. _Maybe he knew what it's like, being a freak._

She had feeling he wouldn't tell.

Before Kadota Kyohei was the face of the dollars, he was a student at Raira Academy. A good-natured person at heart, he noticed that the pretty foreign student with red hair could speak very basic Japanese, and had severe difficulty reading kanji. Kadota, being the easy-going person he was, decided to sit next to her and help her, as the other students of their class had decided that there was no way they were going to associate with a red-haired foreigner who could barely speak Japanese. Well, most of them. The other two who weren't a part of this cult were Izaya and Shizuo.

He'd noticed that Izaya had taken to staring at the back of her head during classes, and would smirk whenever he saw her look his way. Natasha did not like it, but shrugged it off as nothing the one time Kadota asked her about it. He did not ask again.

Shizuo on the other hand, he was pretty sure did not even know that Natasha existed. The man lead the life of delinquent without actually being one, and Kadota felt sorry for him. He was hardly ever in class, and always showed up late for the lessons after recess, bruised and pissed off. People avoided him for that reason, but Kadota was one of two people, the other one being Shinra Kishitani in the next class, who could say for sure that Shizuo was actually a good person at heart.

Since Shizuo was not in class very often, he did not know the ongoings of the class very well. So imagine Kadota's surprise when Shizuo asked him to switch seats for one lesson.

But if there was one thing that Shizuo liked about Kadota, it was that the man had a sixth sense of intuition, and did not spend too much time posing unnecessary questions. One glance at Natasha's back as she pored over Kanji and the following pink tinted on his cheeks was enough for Kadota to understand and agree to Shizuo's request.

 _So you make things fly. HOW?_

A neatly folded piece of paper made its way to Natasha desk. It was written in a messy handwriting, but it was English, and when she turned to her right she saw her blonde classmate from earlier, hunched over his desk, scowling at his notebook. No doubt he was having trouble with math, considering he hadn't been present for a very long time in class.

She thought of playing dumb, and putting that note in her desk and pretending he hadn't received it. But then she caught Shizuo watching her from the corner of his eye, and realized it would be no good if she did that. She remembered the little incident in the afternoon, and thought that if he hadn't told anyone then, he sure as hell wouldn't open his mouth now.

 _It's called levitation. And I've been able to do it for a very long time now._

Shizuo frowned at the basic reply. Before he could retort, another paper landed on his desk.

 _So you make things break. HOW?_

He saw Natasha smiling from next to him and felt his heart was a bit lighter. Not only was she pretty, but also easy to talk to. She was not afraid of him, and actually wanted to continue the conversation. Shizuo smiled back in spite of himself and answered –

 _I have anger issues. I get pissed off easily at people and want to throw things at them. So I do._ _And I've been able to do it for a very long time now._

The rest of the lesson passed on with easy conversation flowing between the two. Neither of them went into the details of their respective abilities, but referred to it humorously. Unbeknownst to the other, that this was what they had both wanted for a very long time – a conversation. Small talk. Anything that would make them feel normal.

Anything that would cause the other to accept them as they are, with no prejudice.

The easy flow of words continued for a week after that. Sometimes Shizuo would sit in the front with her, and when Natasha noticed that Shizuo was uncomfortable with the intense scrutiny of the teacher she'd sit at the back with him too.

It took a week for Shizuo to realize that Natasha had severe difficulty reading kanji. Kanji was the one thing that he could help her with, since he'd do it with Kasuka as a family hobby. So he invited her over to help her out with kanji. She accepted the offer.

On the way back Shizuo ripped off two lampposts in frustration.

"Kasuka!" yelled Shizuo, slamming the door open.

"What is it, brother?" asked Kasuka with his characteristic blank face, sitting at the dinner table eating some snacks.

Shizuo took a few breaths to calm himself. He took out a bottle of cold milk from the fridge downed it in a gulp. Kasuka noted that the time in which he drank the milk was faster than usual. Which meant that there was bound to be a mental breakdown.

"Kasuka, I called my friend over from high school over during the weekend."

Kasuka showed a rare smile to Shizuo. His older brother was inviting a friend over to home. That means, his brother had a friend, and it wasn't Shinra, or else he would've mentioned him by name. Kasuka was relieved, and drank a sip of water, waiting for him to continue.

"She's a girl."

Kasuka choked.

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	10. Chapter 10

**Apologies for the delay! College work to be blamed. This is a continued flashback, and is a bit on the short side. Bear with me here, the next chapter will be longer, I promise. And updated faster :)**

 **DISCLAIMER - I DO NOT OWN DURARARA**

"Um, Good morning Shizuo! Thanks for inviting me over! I really appreciate it!"

Shizuo had woken up not less than ten minutes ago. He'd spent the last night worrying incessantly about Natasha coming over, and as result had slept late. His alarm clock had done its job, waking him up at eight, but he was really pissed off due to lack of sleep, and the clock had been smashed onto the wall. Therefore the late awakening.

It was Kasuka who had woken him up, holding a glass of cold milk, and reminding him of Natasha-san's arrival. Shizuo sprung up, ran to the living room, looked at the clock, and almost ripped it off the wall in despair _. 9:50._

Natasha was going to come at ten. He rushed through his morning activities at lightning speed, just in time for the doorbell to ring. Kasuka was a bit apprehensive about his brother's harried mood, and wondered if he should Natasha-san and ask her to come some other day as Shizuo was not at his best temper that day.

But the moment the door opened, a lady stood her with her bright red hair plaited back neatly, in a knee length skirt and sleeveless black shirt. Her pale skin had a beautiful contrast against the black shirt, and Shizuo stood there for a while looking at her, wondering how and why in the world had such a pretty lady decided to talk to him.

Kasuka smiled. Looking at his brother's pink ears, there was no way she was just a friend. At least not in his brother's mind. Being the perceptive boy, he left the room.

Natasha was a bit surprised at not being let on instantly, and wondered if there as anything wrong. She greeted him enthusiastically.

Shizuo was shaken out of his reverie, and politely asked her to come inside, and Kasuka took that his cue to return, and introduced himself as her kanji advisor.

They sat down to study at the dining table without further incident.

"... Natasha-san, you're learning well. Let's stop here for today," said Kasuka in a monotone, that Natasha had learnt to understand in the last two hours as his characteristic way of speaking. She wondered about how someone like Shizuo, who was so reactive to his emotions, had a brother like Kasuka, who would conceal his thoughts and emotions in the deepest parts of himself.

She saw Kasuka leaning toward Shizuo, telling him something a low voice, and Shizuo looking worried at it, responding back just as quickly. She smiled a bit, thinking of it as playful sibling banter. She was an only child, and she felt a bit lonely sometimes, her mother would generally be out working and would return after she went to bed. On the rather days her mother was home, the men from Yagiri Pharmaceuticals would come to the house, asking to see her. She had already given them a demonstration of her telekinetic powers to them, but her mother had drawn the line on experimentation.

 _You can observe my daughter's abilities from a distance_ , she had said with a steely glance, _but taking her into a laboratory and experimenting on her is absolutely not possible. I will never allow it._

Natasha scowled involuntarily. Shizuo and Kasuka had meanwhile finished their conversation , looking curiously at her, wondering if they'd offended her or something.

She smiled at them, and waved it off as nothing. "It's all right, I just remembered something unpleasant. I shouldn't have. Kasuka, thank you so much for today. I'd better be going." She really didn't want to go back to an empty house, but she couldn't impose on Shizuo's family, even if he was the only friend she'd ever had since coming here. Kadota was helpful, sure, but he was doing it out of courtesy more than anything. And there were a lot of people depending on him, she couldn't possibly take his time from that.

"Um, Natasha wait," said Shizuo sheepishly, scratching the back of his head, looking at Kasuka, as if waiting for confirmation. Kasuka gave a slight nod.

"Do you want to go out somewhere?"

"Brother, there's nothing more for me to teach today."

"Yeah?"

Kasuka resisted the urge to sigh. His brother could be so dense sometimes. For the first time in his life, he brings a girl home, whom he's clearly smitten by, and he has no idea how to act. He hadn't expected Shizuo to act like the perfect guy to his girl, but by the looks of it, Kasuka would have to interfere a bit more than he'd anticipated.

"Are you just going to let her go home for the day? You should ask her for a movie or something. She's your friend, right?"

"Ask her out?" said Shizuo worriedly. He'd never gone on a date ever in his life, true, but he was never the type to observe things such as crushes and dates. He was too invested in property damage and beating people up for pissing him off to pay attention to such things.

And then there was his famous temper. He was afraid of it. He hated violence, but other than his former senpai in middle school, Tom-san, nobody had ever believed him for it. They all thought he was a monster.

But then he looked at Natasha, scowling at the table, and realised that maybe, just maybe, she had something ugly behind her abilities which she could not tell people either. He found it a bit difficult to believe, but wanted to give her the benefit of doubt.

It was the first time he found someone like himself. He allowed himself to be selfish this one time and decided to spend some more time with her. Besides, if worst came to worst, she had already displayed that she was more than capable of throwing off projectiles if they ever hit her. Not that he ever would, he shuddered at the thought. But the thought did give him some relief.

Natasha had probably realised that she'd been scowling, and said, "It's all right, I just remembered something unpleasant. I shouldn't have. Kasuka, thank you so much for today. I'd better be going."

Shizuo decided to take the leap of faith.

"Um, Natasha wait," said Shizuo sheepishly, scratching the back of his head, looking at Kasuka, as if waiting for confirmation. Kasuka gave a slight nod.

"Do you want to go out somewhere?"


	11. Chapter 11

**CHAPTER 11 – FLASHBACK CONTINUED**

 **Sorry for the wait! This chapter was quite hard to write. It was actually one chapter, but it became too long, so I had to split it in two parts. This is Part 1.**

 **ENJOY! DON'T FORGET TO LEAVE A REVIEW! REVIEWS MAKE ME HAPPY!**

 **DISCLAIMER - I DO NOT OWN DURARARA.**

 **CHAPTER 11 – FLASHBACK CONTINUED**

Natasha wrapped her arms around herself, shielding herself from the wind blowing mercilessly. She silently cursed herself for choosing to wear a sleeveless blouse. She glanced up at Shizuo, who in all likelihood had not even felt the wind blowing. She had caught him sneaking glances at her earlier, and was tempted to his look his way as well, but remembered the isolation he'd had to face due to his super strength, and did not want to scare him off. He'd look stoically ahead when she looked at him, and turn his head towards her when he thought she wasn't looking. Natasha found it cute, and tried hard to hide the smile on her face.

Shizuo had a dilemma of thoughts running through his mind. So he'd asked her out for ramen, as per Kasuka's advice, but what now? Had he just asked her for lunch? Or was it a date? Were they dating? He looked towards her, and saw her trying to hide a smile. He felt his ckeeks heat up, and immediately turned away, huffing. There was no way she'd feel that way for him. She was pretty, very pretty, and deserved someone much better than him, someone who could control his temper much better, and wasn't blacklisted by people at first glance. Nevertheless, she seemed to have no qualms in being seen walking next to him. Add to the equation her superhuman abilities, like making things fly. _Telekinesis_ , he reminded himself.

 _Was she his girlfriend now? Was he supposed to ask her to be one? Or was it understood? How was he supposed to do it? Get down on one knee?_ He thought, blushing, as he remembered a movie he'd once watched. _No, that's for getting married. Arghh, damn it. I should've asked Kasuka for some more advice._

He was so lost in his frantic thoughts that he hadn't noticed that they'd reached the ramen shop. Natasha reached out and tugged at the bottom of his shirt, indicating to him that they'd reached, when he was going further. Shizuo's cheeks warmed at the gesture.

They gave their orders, and went to sit at a table meant for two people. It was a quaint place, and the shop was right on the footpath. But they served good food, and that was good enough for Shizuo.

 _Good enough for me_ , he repeated in his head. _But obviously not the place for dates! Damn it, I should've asked Kasuka about the good restaurants in town!_

But his worries were for naught. Natasha loved the place _. Very different from Dublin. I like ramen a lot! It's a lovely place._

She didn't tell him that since she'd been alone for so long, she was fine with any sort of company. Especially with someone who was like her.

Shizuo heaved a sigh of relief, and they had a brief discussion about the weather.

It hadn't escaped Shizuo's knowledge that they hadn't really discussed his super strength and her telekinesis, ever since that first day the met. It was almost like an invisible line they had chosen not to cross. Shizuo had been fine with it in the beginning, but as he got to know her better, he found himself curious to know about her abilities too. Were her abilities dependent on her emotions as well? Did she find it difficult to control sometimes? How many people knew about her abilities? And why did she shift from Dublin to Tokyo so suddenly, in the middle of the school year?

There were a lot of thoughts floating around in his mind, and as he tried to keep a civil conversation with her, his right hand kept pressing down hard on the table, and in his frustration, he didn't even notice. Suddenly, he heard a creak. So did Natasha. When they looked down at his right hand, Shizuo realized that he had dented the table.

"Excuse me," he said gruffly getting up from his seat, "I'll just go to the bathroom," intending to go and splash his face with some water.

"Ah, sure!" said Natasha.

She stared after him as he got up, and walked almost angrily to the washroom. _Was it something I said?_ She wondered.

Little did she know, it was what she _hadn't_ said.

#####

"Pretty madame, how are you today?"

Natasha was startled out of her reverie by a tall man, slightly on the thinner side. He exuded an aura of confidence and arrogance. That, coupled with his poor attempt at broken English, implied that he fancied himself as a playboy.

Lifting the hat from his head in a smooth manner, he bowed down slightly, and said, "The name is Rokujo Chikage, better known as Rocchi. And you are?"

"N-Natasha Ascott." She said, curtly.

"Ah, is the pretty Natasha waiting for somebody? Or is this seat empty?" saying thus, Rokujo slid into the seat previously occupied by Shizuo. Natasha's first instinct was to raise her eyebrows, and hurriedly tell him off, not wanting Shizuo to create a ruckus. But she realized that they weren't _technically_ on a date, and decided to hold her tongue. Although she was tempted to whack him on the head with the salt shaker. The arrogant, know-it-all attitude pissed her off.

But she contained her emotions, and smiled politely, telling him that no, she wasn't alone, and that she had a friend with her.

"But she isn't here, is she?"

No, she wasn't, and had gone to the bathroom. And her friend was male.

"Your boyfriend?"

Natasha blushed inadvertently, she looked away. Rokujo smiled knowingly, and was about to say something when he felt his shirt collar being pulled up. The next thing he knew, he was up in the air, legs dangling over the chair, being held by the collar by a very pissed off blonde.

#####

After the incident, when he was considerably calmer, Shizuo would ask himself the reason for his anger. The fact that another guy occupied his seat? What was he, five years old?

Was it because the guy ooozed raw charisma, and knew how to talk to a girl without thinking twice about every spoken word?

 _Or was he jealous?_

He asked himself these questions _after_ he was done throwing Rokujo into the wall of the ramen shop. Natasha did not even have the time to react.

A glance to the right, on the other side of the road, with his trademark smirk, stood Izaya Orihara.

That was when Natasha's eyes widened, and once she put two and two together, she ran across the street towards him.

"Oh my god, man, are you tough!" said Rokujo, his voice slightly nasal due to the heavy blow against the wall. "Was I flirting with your girlfriend? I had no clue about that!"

Shizuo's cheeks became warm. Girlfriend? Were they on a date? Is that how they looked like? And he'd ruined it all by beating up a guy. Great. But wait, it wasn't a date, was it?

Rokujo, meanwhile, kept on rambling, "I'm sorry, I ain't the type to flirt with another man's girl, you know. But she hadn't said anything, so I assumed she wasn't taken. I apologize," he said, with a crooked smile.

Shizuo felt a bit stung, but realised she was obviously not obligated to have said anything of the sort to him. He was about to apologize for throwing him into a wall for no real fault of his, when saw Natasha run across the road, towards a guy sporting an all-knowing smirk.

"Izayaaaaa….." rumbled Shizuo's deep baritone.

"Ah, yes. That's the guy who asked me to go flirt with the pretty red head."

That't it. _Izaya was going to die today._

 _#####_

Natasha sprinted after Izaya, determined to catch him and figure out why in the world did he like taunting her so much. Never before she had been affected so negatively by man, not even Yagiri pharmaceuticals came close to infuriating her as much as Izaya did. Yes, they were interested in her abilities, but they never bothered to hide their intentions – their aim was to experiment on her and make profit. That much was clear.

Izaya's motives, on the hand, were a mystery. He had first seen her push an out-of-control car out of its en route collision with an oil tanker, on the way back from school. Ordinary passerbys did not pay too much attention to her, concerned as they were about the car and its owner who had crashed into a grocery store. She wasn't strong enough to lift the car, and it would have been very suspicious if she did. So that's why she did what she did, push it out of harm's way.

But at the time her telekinetic abilities were not as developed as they were in the present time, and she did need her hands to stabilize the motion of objects. So when she moved her hands in the direction that at the car had been thrown into, Izaya's curiousity was piqued. No way the motion of the car and those of her hands were coincidental _. She was someone who could manipulate motions of objects. A telekinetic._

The next day, Izaya confronted her, outright. He left a note in her locker, asking her to come up to the terrace of the building after school, or he would _start talking._ Natasha, rightly afraid, but determined not to let him see it, marched right up to the terrace, and waited patiently for twenty minutes, after which Izaya showed up.

"Sorry for the delay, Tasha-chan, club activities ran late today," he had said, in a tone indicating the exact opposite. The sneaky bastard had, in all likelihood, enjoyed watching her squirm, until she was close to breaking point. Well, too bad for him, because Natasha had decided she was going to give information as vague as possible, and leave immediately. She wasn't too bothered by him, to be honest. Although the nickname he had for her made her eyebrow twitch in annoyance. Anyhow, even if he did talk, people would consider him delusional and not believe him too much.

In a smooth move, one which Natasha would not have been able to decipher had she not been a mutant, he flicked out a knife and ran towards, aiming to harm. Her survival instincts kicked in, and she held out her arms, controlling Izaya's arm movements. Izaya's face lit up, and he pulled his arms back, smiling widely. Natasha frowned at his actions, but did not lower her guard.

"So my suspicions were indeed correct, you aren't the normal human you pretend to be."

"What do you intend to do with these suspicions of yours?" she asked, her voice emitting false bravado.

"Nothing, really." He shrugged. "But the fact that you're strong enough the divert a car from its course. That's a really interesting piece of information." Smirking, he added, "But I do wonder what Yagiri Pharmaceuticals intends to do with these suspicions-turned-facts of mine."

Natasha's blood ran cold. The company knew that she was a telekinetic, and she did provide them with demonstrations from time to when she did show them her abilities, she would downplay them tremendously. She down purposely shake the glass when she lifted, and displayed false weakness when she got tired of their demands. But if they realised she was actually stronger than she let on, things would get dodgier with them.

They said they were trying to find a cure for the mutant gene, and her mother was only too glad to help. According to her, her mutations were a curse, and she would be better off without them. Natasha, however, wasn't sure of her own opinions on them.

But she what she did know, was that she did not approve of their conniving methods to lure her mother into giving her up for experimentation.

She extracted the knife from Izaya's hand and levitated it against the latter's throat, and such that it was in contact with his skin. Not enough pressure to draw blood, but enough to do so if he pressed any more of her buttons.

"Do you intend to tell them?"

"What if I did? Would you kill me?"

She raised her eyebrows, but did not comment on that, opting to continue holding the knife steadily against Izaya's throat. It gave her something solid to focus on, and reinstated the belief in her that her family should be safe, no matter what price the offender had to pay.

"I haven't decided on that."

Izaya smiled sadistically. "An ordinary human would be reduced to pitiful state of tears by now, begging to keep the secret. You, even by human standards, surpass my expectations. You intrigue me."

Natasha did not dignify his observation with a comment, nor did she alter her determined expression.

Izaya sighed at the lack of response, and continued," Tasha-chan, to be perfectly honest, I haven't yet decided on my course of action. You pique my interest like no other, by natural, and by supernatural standards. But," he narrowed his eyes and said, "I do not intend to talk so soon, I can assure you of that."

Saying thus, he took advantage of the spilt second Natasha had released the pressure on his neck, and leapt gracefully of the building, onto the water tanker, the oncoming truck, and finally the road. He waved at her, and skipped his way home.

Natasha shook her head. She had no clue what to do with the guy. But she hoped she had been able to get the message across. _Cause my family any harm and you will rue the day you were born._

 _#####_

As Natasha chased him down the alley, she cursed herself for letting down her guard near him. She ran after him, but Izaya was faster. Not to mention Izaya had started training in parkour and was gracefully leaping over signboards and parked cars. Natasha was tempted to simply lift those obstacles and throw them aside (sans the cars, she wasn't enough to lift them unfortunately) but understood that they were in public and restrained herself, going after him the old-fashioned way.

Shizuo however was less subtle. He'd yelled "IZAYAAAA!" three times by now, and was throwing whichever inanimate object was unlucky enough to come before him. Natasha was trying to avoid them, but it was difficult to levitate and chase Izaya at the same time. She understood that Shizuo was not in his right frame of mind, and that when he finally did come to his senses, he would regret his actions, but for now, she really needed to talk to Izaya.

Suddenly Izaya ran into an alley which exited onto the main road and leapt over a truck. Natasha stopped just in time from being run over, but Shizuo, who'd now caught upto them, wasn't nearly as lucky. He ran headfirst onto the road, holding a car which had been parked on the side of the street, over his head.

And tossed it onto the busy road in rage.

#####

 **Aaaand that's part one. Part one should come out in some time.**

 **Liked it? Hated it? Either way, please review!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Hey you guys! So I'm alive, yeah. Sorry for the late update, but I hope you'll forgive me with this chapter!**

 **There's our favourite underground doctor entering the scene, along with... SOMETHING XD.**

 **PLEASE REVIEW! REVIEWS MAKE ME HAPPY!**

 **Disclaimer - I do not own Durarara.**

 **CHAPTER 12 – FLASHBACK CONTINUED**

For the first few seconds, there was chaos. People on the street scampered off to the sides of the road, in anticipation of being hurt by a big car landing onto their heads. Traffic had halted abruptly, waiting for the car to hit them, bracing themselves for the impact. People on the pavement held their hands over their head, in a perfect stance for defence. From an attack that never came.

Instead, they looked in wonder as the car flew to the side of the road. No kidding, it actually _flew_. Like, it wobbled a bit in air, like someone was manipulating its motion, and was having difficulty in doing so, but nonetheless there was some blessed soul doing it. And as they looked around with silent prayers in their eyes, the car being gently lowered onto the side of the road, very few noticed the girl with red hair trudging up to the alley where she came from with great effort, ultimately falling unconscious. They did, however notice the blonde brute rush to her side like a concerned friend (boyfriend?) holding her in his arms and checking for her breathing. They wanted to act as good Samaritans and help, but fear of the monster kept them away.

No one noticed the young man in black hair and drooping red eyes skip away from the scene, a sadistic smile on his pale face.

#####

"Look, young man, I'm sure she'll be okay. I'm a doctor, and I've seen this before – she's fainted from exhaustion. Believe me when I say it isn't really such a big deal – kids nowadays should eat properly, that's all. Take care!"

Saying thus, the doctor brusquely moved past Shizuo towards another patient. Shizuo, on one hand, was relieved – she'd be okay. He let out a long breath which he hadn't realized he'd been holding all that while, and sank onto the hospital chair. He looked at Natasha's pale form on the hospital bed, and true to the doctor's words –could see some colour returning to her cheeks. _She's gonna be okay_ , he repeated the doctor's words in his mind – _she's gonna be just fine._

On the other hand, there was guilt. He had caused her to be lying like this in the hospital. True, he hadn't hit her or anything, but he was going to hit Izaya, and she had gotten in the way.

 _What if she wasn't in the way? What if he was?_ She was the one who starting running behind Izaya first, and he had started chasing the bastard because he'd pissed him off badly. _What if she wanted to talk to him about what she had been rummaging in his bag one week ago_?

Once again, Shizuo had screwed up. In his attempt to get back at the flea, he'd hurt the one person who accepted him for what he was, monster and all. He didn't deserve her, not one bit. He thought of leaving. Obviously when she got up, she would not want to meet the person who got her into this predicament in the first place.

He was about to get up, and that moment the door swung open, revealing a young high school student with spiky hair and glasses. Shizuo sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. He'd told him about Natasha's symptoms when she'd collapsed, and it was the young doctor-in-training who'd suggested getting her to a hospital. For the sake of his own sanity, Shizuo had pleaded him not to come, seeing as he was not in any condition to deal with the latter's constant inane chatter, but now the cards had been played.

Natasha chose this moment to starting stirring, and opened her eyes a bit. "Shizuo," she breathed, and with a slight smile, continued, "You're alright."

Shizuo was about to apologize for his actions, when Shinra spoke up. "So you're Tasha-chan! I heard from Shizuo you collapsed at the busy intersection! How are you?" He peered worriedly at her through his glasses.

Natasha tried to recall where she'd seen the overenthusiastic individual. She pictured him in the Raira High school uniform, and remembered – he was Shizuo's friend from the next class, who used to eat lunch with him sometimes. But she also remembered seeing him hang out with Izaya after school one day. She frowned. _Just who was this guy?_

Shinra realized her confusion, seeing as he had never really introduced himself to her. "Ah! My apologies! My name is Shinra Kishitani. I'm from the next class to yours at Raira, and I'm also a senior like you. Shizuo's friend. I'm also studying medicine to become a doctor, which is why Shizuo called me up about your symptoms. Well, you simply collapsed from exhaustion. Haven't you been eating well? Or are you exerting yourself too hard?" Shinra stated the whole thing in a rather enthusiastic tone, which Natasha appreciated _. Well, he's Shizuo's friend. Seems easy enough to talk to too._ And judging by his ease at sitting next to a tense Shizuo, who was twitching his eyebrow in annoyance, she realized he wasn't afraid of him either.

"Um, thank you Shinra. I really appreciate it. But I'm fine now." She was lying, and she knew it. Her head was still throbbing, and she still felt weak in her legs. But she couldn't stay in a hospital, she needed to leave as soon as possible, before somebody suspected something, or Yagiri's spies alerted him. _Or that bastard had done a clean job_ , thinking of Izaya.

"No way, Tasha-chan! You need to rest!"

"I appreciate your concern, but I really need to go." Answered Natasha curtly. Shizuo raised an eyebrow in interest. So she was the polite type in general, but had her priorities in life, where she wouldn't let people simply walk over her. She didn't want to stay in the hospital – and Shizuo wasn't dumb. He understood. He recalled all those times wherein when younger, he'd spend days in the hospital, with people in white coming and prodding him with needles and syringes, wanting to know how did his body function, even with so many broken bones. _She was the same as him,_ he realized _. She didn't want them to know about her abilities._

Shizuo understood her concern and put a hand on Shinra's shoulder, silencing him with a look. He then nodded at Natasha, and said, "Tell them we're leaving."

Shinra was a bit confused by her insistence to leave earlier, but looking at Shizuo, he saw something he never thought he'd see in the man. Empathy. Like he understood Natasha's condition in a way he hadn't, and probably never would. Shinra decided he'd question him later, but he sure would. For now, he'd just go along with the flow. He smiled at Shizuo, and walked to the door.

"But the payment?! Ah, here, my mother's number –"

"There's no need! When I came I had asked them to bill your treatment on my tab. I'm interning at this hospital as a ward boy, for future experience. Anyway, nice knowing you Tasha-chan! See you!"

"But –"

"Natasha," using her full name since he'd entered, he said, "You're a friend of Shizuo's, and therefore a friend of mine. I'd be happy to help you out this one time, but do try keeping this fainting fits to a minimum!" he said with his trademark grin, and left.

Shizuo glanced at her, and said gruffly, "You're coming?"

"Ah, yeah!"

#####

"So Shinra didn't come with us?" asked Natasha, wobbling on the crutches the hospital had given her to walk home. Shizuo was walking beside her, purposely taking shorter strides so that she could keep up. He was facing away from her, trying to hide the pink on his cheeks after that brief conversation he'd had with Shinra earlier while Natasha was getting used to her crutches, and it took every ounce of his super strength converted to will power NOT to punch Shinra into the nearest wall.

 _Ah Shizuo! She's a girl! A very pretty girl! Your to-be girlfriend! Shizuo, I'm so happy I think I'm gonna cry._ Very conveniently avoiding Shizuo's glare, he continued _, You should definitely walk her home! Oh, and kiss her! You should do that! That's the first girl you've ever spoken to right? And by the looks of it, I don't think you're gonna find anyone else! I know love at first sight, this is what it is! Just like my beloved Celt-_

And then Shinra lay there unconscious. Who knew a flick to the forehead could cause so much damage?

Remembering the incident, Shizuo replied, "Nah. Said he had some work to do at the hospital."

"Oh."

The rest of the journey continued in silence. For a while, at least.

#####

The wind had become fierce, and the sky was overcast with grey clouds. "It's gonna rain," said Shizuo to no one in particular.

"Looks like it."

They continued walking hurriedly. Or at least Shizuo did, Natasha struggled to keep up with her crutches.

 _Tack tack tack._ Came the sound of crutches on the footpath.

When the first drops of rain fell, Shizuo looked to his side to see how Natasha was holding up. He turned to his right to see an empty grey pavement. He looked behind, and realized that in his attempts to take long strides, he'd forgotten she was on crutches and was at least a good hundred feet behind him. He cursed himself for not realizing that sooner. _Damn it. She's not in any condition to walk very fast. I'm such an idiot._

He stalked back the remaining distance and stood in front of her. By then, the rain had started falling heavily, and heavy droplets of water were falling on their faces, soaking their hair and clothes.

Shizuo turned around, and knelt down, gesturing with his arms. "Climb on, I'll carry you home. You're in no condition to be walking in this weather."

"HUH? You want me to climb on?" asked Natasha, red-faced. As in a piggyback? She was wearing a skirt, for heaven's sake!

But Shizuo was unperturbed. "Look, you're really in no condition to be walking when it's raining so hard. Your crutches are useless. Might as well carry you home. It'll be no effort for me." He said in his usual gruff manner.

"Umm… okay?"

Saying so, she climbed onto Shizuo's back gingerly, as he hoisted her up. Thankfully her skirt was long enough to not cause an embarrassing scene, and true to his word, it was really no effort on Shizuo's part. The guy could lift cars and signboards, why would he have any issues with lifting her?

#####

There was silence for a while, and then Shizuo decided to break it.

"So why'd you come to Ikebukuro?"

Natasha raised her head. "Hmm?"

"You know, from Dublin?"

Natasha stayed silent for a while. Shizuo did not speak further, allowing the silence to drag further.

 _He's been nothing but supportive all this time. He knew what I was, yet stayed by my side the whole time. He could've gone and alerted the authorities, but he didn't. Not to mention, he's the same as me. I'm sure he'll understand if I told him, and I do trust him. It's just…. I don't want to involve him. He's a good person, with a good family._

 _And even then…. Something calls me from within and wants me to trust him. I want to lay my guard down around him, and behave like any high school girl, who isn't being chased by pharmaceutical companies and the like. I want to be accepted for who I am, as a person, and not simply by my abilities._

Thinking thus, she decided to talk.

"I'm originally from Ireland, you probably already know that. I came to Tokyo after my father died. He was a researcher associated with Yagiri Pharmaceuticals, and was actually working on the mutant genome, wanting to find a cure for my… condition. When he died, the company said that they had collected a lot of data from my father's researches, but wanted to examine me, and my abilities, before they did anything."

"… A cure?" asked Shizuo, confused. He stopped entirely in the middle of the pavement, rain drenching them from head to toe.

"Ummm… Shizuo? You can put me down, it's okay," said Natasha quietly, not understanding why Shizuo had stopped. Not to mention, she was cold, and it was raining cats and dogs, with large puddles being formed on the pavement. The sky was grey, just like her heart.

"You want a cure? For your condition? You're calling it a condition? What the hell is wrong with you?!" Shizuo yelled out the last part involuntarily, clenching his grips on her calves.

Natasha squirmed uncomfortably, and realised he was angry.

"You're fine the way you are! Your _condition-_ " spat Shizuo in a mocking tone – " is what saved those people today! It's nothing to be ashamed of! I mean, I know why you'd rather not have people know about it, since they'd think you're a freak, just like me. But denying it to yourself, that's just STUPID! It's a part of you! And it's why all those people on the street-" he paused, swallowed and continued,"-are still alive."

Natasha stared at the back of his head, wide-eyed. She had always thought of her abilities as something she would be happy to get rid of. Her mother told her so. Yagiri Pharmaceuticals told her so. Everyone around her did, telling her it would be for the best. Now, she had someone, someone like her, telling her otherwise. Telling her that her abilities could be good. Could be used to _save_ people.

Someone telling her that she could be _accepted,_ warts and all.

Overcome by emotion, as tears rolled down her cheeks, she buried her head in his neck.

#####

Shizuo stilled at her sudden movement, a blush covering his cheeks at her actions. A muffled sob from behind indicates she was crying, although it was difficult to tell, what with the rain pouring incessantly. _Shit. Did I just make a girl cry?_

Before he could apologize, Natasha spoke up from behind, her voice muffled with the rain and his wet shirt which she had buried her head in.

" _Thank you_. Thank you so much. For everything."

Shizuo understood. She didn't have to spell it out. Not for him, at least. After all, who would understand the importance of being accepted by somebody better than him?

#####

They continued in comfortable silence for the rest of the journey, until they reached Natasha's house. "You can drop me of here," she said, referring to her porch.

"Yeah." Said Shizuo, gently setting her down. Once she was down, he turned around to say goodbye, only to pause and stare at her.

Her red hair was half out of its plait, and her clothes were soaked all the way through. Her pale skin had thin film of water all over it. Her eyes were puffy from crying earlier, but they were tears of gratitude.

Shizuo smiled, a rare one, reserved for only those dear to him. He had understood her, her pain, and she had accepted him, with all his strength and temper issues. She held no grudges against him for what had happened earlier, and would refuse to do so.

For the first time in his seventeen years, he thought he could love, and be loved in return by someone who wasn't his family.

Looking at her face, staring into her deep green eyes, he closed his eyes and leaned forward.

#####

After being set down on the porch, she stood unsteadily, no sure if her feet could still handle her weight. Thankfully, even though she felt some fatigue, she was able to stand on her own. She was soaked through, and shivered a little bit due to the cold. She kept her teeth firmly gritted lest, they start chattering. Her hair had come undone, and was hanging down loosely by her sides.

She looked up to thank Shizuo for dropping her home (literally) when her breath got caught in her throat. He was soaked, his white shirt revealing his musculature from wielding lampposts and cars. His wet blond hair, hanging limp across his forehead. His brown mocha eyes, as they bore deep holes into her own green ones.

And slowly, she saw his eyes close, and his face moved closer to hers.

Deciding not to waste any time thinking, she moved forward and met her lips with his.

#####

Shizuo's eyes widened momentarily, surprised she had the same thoughts as him. But closed them again, and lost himself in the sensation.

Her lips were surprisingly firm, and moulded themselves perfectly against his. _Well it makes sense for her to have had some experience_ , thought Shizuo absently. It didn't make sense to ruin the moment this way, and he silently thanked the stars that she had left behind whichever fellow she had been with for him. He wasn't her first, but he wondered what it would be like to be her forever.

She tasted like strawberries, he decided, since she reminded him of the taste of his favourite cake. He felt her smooth hands on his cheeks, cupping them, bringing him as close to her as possible, with no room for air in between them. Unsure of what to do with his hands, they initially were on the sides of her face, but then realizing the tangle of hands between them, they travelled down her back and settled on her waist, lifting her slightly so that they could be on a more equal footing. One of her hands then moved and buried itself in his hair, and he followed suit, tangling his fingers into her long red tresses, freeing it from its confines, and removing the plait entirely.

Their lips moved together in harmony, for what seemed like ages, and finally they pulled apart, gasping for air. Natasha, with her hair tousled, chest heaving, eyes half lidded, breathing lightly on Shizuo's lips, while the latter stood, staring wide at her, with his hair sticking out in every direction.

"I…. I should probably go." He said, letting go of her waist.

Natasha was brought back to reality with that statement, and she straightened herself and smoothed out the pleats on her skirt. "Ah, okay. Maybe you should. The rain has stopped for a while, but it won't be this way for long. You should leave while the weather is this way. Here-" she pulled out an umbrella kept out in the stand,"-use this. You can give it back to me on Monday, at school." She was rambling, but couldn't stop.

"…Yeah." Mumbled Shizuo, taking the umbrella handed to him, unable to form a coherent sentence after what had transpired earlier.

Natasha found it immensely endearing, and she smiled reassuringly. "Goodbye," she said, "We'll meet at school."

"Sure."

And she waited on the porch until he left, kissing him a couple more times. He was a novice at this, she thought amusedly. But that's okay. They had time to get used to it.

She waited until he was out on the pavement, and waved him goodbye. And she kept waiting outside on the pavement, a happy smile on her face, the cold weather notwithstanding, until it became dark and her mother came home, bewildered to see her beloved daughter actually _smiling_. She reprimanded her on staying outside in the cold for so long, but Natasha paid no heed to her.

In a life like hers, such respites were rare. Maybe the fates had decided to be kind to her for once.

#####

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	13. Chapter 13

**Since I've been so inactive, I thought I'd update two chapters at one go :D**

 **Flashback's over for now, we're back to the current time.**

 **DISCLAIMER - I DO NOT OWN DURARARA.**

 **CHAPTER 13 – PRESENT TIME**

Izaya woke up with a start, realizing he'd fallen asleep in his office. It was 1 a.m. and the city was fast aleep. The streets of Shinjuku were dark, the darkness punctuated at regular intervals by streetlights, and not a soul was to be found. 

He rose from his desk, rubbing his face. He stretched a bit, hearing a few satisfying creaks in his shoulder and stared his blank computer screen for a while.

 _So Natasha has returned, huh_. His erstwhile surprise had been replaced by acceptance. Although he'd initially thought her mad to come back to Japan, he knew that Natasha wasn't the type to take stupid risks without knowing the consequences. She was a smart woman, much smarter than the brute she fell in love with. So why was she here? Given that he had not traced her when she left, for the fear (yes, fear) that Yagiri might catch onto it.

He had to track her down. The old fashioned way. Shizuo.

But before that, he decided to call Shinra first. He remembered that Shinra was the one who had helped him in getting Natasha out of the country, and that if Natasha had indeed returned, she wouldn't go to Shizuo immediately, given his unpredictability and hair-trigger temper. She'd go to Kadota, or to Shinra.

Shinra seemed to be more likely to be up at this ungodly hour, so he called him up, hoping that the latter would pick up his phone and not be engaged in nightly activities with his headless beloved.

 _Tring tring._ Only two rings before the phone was picked up by a harried Shinra.

"Orihara-kun! It's you! What happened?" He seemed tired, which meant that he'd just have a patient leave his house not too long ago. Judging from what happened the previous evening, said patient was Shizuo.

"Ah, Shinra. Just wanted to know, do you have a guest residing at your place? Someone with red hair? A woman?"

Shinra's blood ran cold, as he stared at the door of the guest room. _Izaya had known_. Not that he would do anything with that information, sure, but Natasha had made sure not to tell anyone. And the woman was quite capable of hiding herself well, even from mastermind informants.

"You know." No point in beating around the bush with him. They both knew who they were talking about. "How?" asked Shinra, his voice laced with worry, which never happened.

Celty walked by, and saw Shinra gripping the phone, something that wasn't a daily occurrence. She debated about asking him put the phone on speaker, but remembered about their guests, one of whom had been put to sleep just an hour ago, and decided to ask him about it later.

"The president of Yagiri pharmaceuticals came over to talk to me about it. He didn't mention her by name, but it was obvious whom he was talking about," said Izaya, his voice devoid of its usual taunting and malicious undertone.

"Orihara-kun, can we talk about this tomorrow? I'm really tired right now."

But both of them knew the truth. He wasn't tired, he needed time to think about what to be done next. Celty was standing patiently next to him. This wasn't just about his friend Natasha anymore, but also about her daughter, and possibly even Shizuo. And if the events from five years ago were any indication, getting out of it again wasn't going to be easy.

"Understood. Call me if you need any more information. Good night."

Shinra sank onto the chair. If Celty had a head, she'd have looked curiously at him. Instead, she took her PDA and typed –

 _What did Izaya say?_

"Yagiri pharmaceuticals was the company after Natasha and her abilities. They know she's here."

 _So what do we do now?_

Shinra smiled wearily. It was warming to hear from Celty the word "we" in regards to the situation. It meant that whatever they did, they'd do it together, and that Natasha and her daughter weren't alone. He respected Natasha's abilities to take care of herself, she'd done it for seventeen years before she'd met them, and another five years with her daughter. But now, they were in enemy territory. But also in their own territory. Shinra would be damned if he sold out a friend, one as dear as Natasha. And hearing Celty say that she'd help them made him feel safer.

"I have decided. Regardless of what Natasha says, I'll give Shizuo the address of their apartment. It won't do much good, seeing that it is my supposed cousin's house, but _I want him to have it._ It'll give me a sense of security for them."

 _Fair enough. I know she can take her of herself, but I also know how tenacious Yagiri can be. It's best to safer than sorry in this case._

"Ah, now then," said Shinra, getting up, "let's go to bed." 

_By bed, I hope you mean sleep. We have a child sleeping in the house._

"BUT CELTY!"

#####

Izaya got up from the sofa at eight o'clock, as per the alarm he'd set on his phone. He had realised that in all likelihood, and despite Shinra's and Natasha's best efforts, the issue with Yagiri pharmaceuticals was going to be blown out of proportion in a matter of few days. They were going to catch on, no doubt about it. Knowing Natasha, she might have come back with the purpose of vengeance, but she would have anticipated having a headstart of a few months before they would know she was back in town.

Pity that they'd already known she was here, and that too the day she'd come back. However, Izaya refusing to help implied that Yagiri would have to find another man who would have more information of her whereabouts, and given Shinra wouldn't tell, she had a few days. Maybe weeks, if she was lucky. But Izaya had to bet, he's say that there would definitely be showdown before the end of the month. And given Shizuo's tendencies to get himself involved in every situation in Ikebukuro, the showdown would be violent one indeed.

As he was thinking about this, Namie entered with her briefcase. She was surprised to see him this early, but remembered his actions of the day before, and decided not to pry. She should be happy that the man had something to think about, and may, just maybe, he had decided to do his job seriously and not fool around with people's lives too much. Not that she cared, but it was a pain to deal with.

"Ah, Namie-san what a beautiful morning it is!" Getting off the sofa, he continued, "Something big is going to happen Ikebukuro. I just know it. And unfortunately, or fortunately, I can't for sure, I'm going to be involved in it. Which means that I won't have much time for my other jobs. So I need to work faster than usual, and do all of my pending work before it begins. This also means," he spread his arms out dramatically, "that while I'm writing reports on the drug ring for the Awakusu-kai, I won't be able to meet Shizu-chan for a while. So I'm going to piss him off now. See you later Namie-san!"

And he happily skipped to the elevator.

Namie sighed in exasperation. Why would she think her boss would've changed?

#####

It was just after he'd felt the chill in the wind. He smelt a familiar scent. _It smells like shit._

No, more appropriately, it smelt like –

"Shizu-chan, what is a brute like you doing out in a beautiful park like this?"

 _So long for a quiet and peaceful morning_ , thought Shizuo, as he pulled out the bench he had been sitting on, the empty cake box falling off, forgotten.

By the time a sufficient crowd had gathered, Izaya realised that Shizuo's rage was nothing out of the ordinary. It was the mindless rampage, true, but it was nothing unexpected.

 _As I expected, she hasn't yet contacted him. And I don't think she intends to, anytime soon._

His information gathered, he prepared to take his leave when he saw a piece of paper fallen next to Shizuo. The paper hadn't been there before.

Shizuo's veins bulged out of his forehead as he glared at Izaya in hatred, and had not realized that he'd lost the paper.

 _Must be something important,_ thought Izaya. _Shizu-chan isn't the type to keep random pieces of paper in his pocket which he could not understand._ But obviously, the paper wasn't _very_ important, as it was lying on the ground next to Shizuo as he took a deep breath and charged right at him.

Izaya decided he wanted that piece of paper. He ran towards Shizuo, dodged the bench hurled at him, and picked up the paper fallen down, while Shizuo's back was turned.

"IZAAAAAYAAA!" yelled Shizuo, enraged. He had gotten one day, ONE DAY, where he thought he could spend the day in piece, but the damned flea couldn't just leave him alone now, could he?

Izaya gracefully ran towards the main road and leapt onto the oncoming truck and sped away, leaving Shizuo behind in the dust.

#####

Izaya walked down the streets on the other side of Ikebukuro, far away from Shizuo's earlier rampage, and opened the folded paper. It was an address, written in Shinra's almost illegible doctor handwriting, but to a trained eye, it was discernible. He thought of going back to his office in Shinjuku and tracking down the address, but realised that he was already in the area, and thought, why not simply pay a visit? It definitely wasn't a client of his, no mafia or gang wanted anything more to do with Shizuo.

Could it be what he thought it was? Best not to make assumptions, and find out the truth. He skipped the way to the address.

#####

Natasha was exhausted after arranging the whole house. She had pushed every drawer, every cupboard to the sides of the rooms, placed all her and Sophie's clothes neatly into them, arranged all the utensils and cleaned all the dust. All without using the movers that Shinra had recommended her to.

She smiled proudly. Her stamina had grown. Ten years ago she would feel tired after picking up a glass of water, now she could arrange entire houses on her own.

She glanced at Sophie, who was fast asleep on the futon. She wanted to buy a bed for herself and her daughter, but she first needed to find employment at a school. She would scour the newspaper tomorrow to find vacant teaching positions at high schools in the city, she decided. If she wanted to get back at Yagiri, then she needed to be financially stable enough _. Good thing the degree from Tokyo University was transferable,_ she thought. _Otherwise there was no way I'd get my Bachelors in Education in Geneva._

A knock at the door caused her to stop her mental tasking. The door had no peephole, so she levitated a couple of pans and made them hover at the side of the door. If need be, they could act as weapons.

She opened the door. And caused the pans to drop.

#####

Izaya winced at the sounds of the dropping pans, and turned to the side. Yes, of course she would be on her guard.

"I-Izaya?"

"Long time no see, Tasha-chan!"

#####

 **Cliffhanger!**

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	14. Chapter 14

**My apologies for the last update! It seems that the system did not read it properly :(**

 **But now the correct chapter is up! Chapter 15 shall also be updated shortly**

 **PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW! REVIEWS MAKE ME HAPPY!**

 **DISCLAIMER - I DO NOT OWN DURARARA.**

 **CHAPTER 14**

Seitarou Yagiri sat on his armchair, behind his vast table, with his chin resting on interlaced fingers, staring distantly at the bookshelf in front of him. In the small niche of the shelf, there used to be the head of a Dullahan, but now it is an empty space. Yagiri may have been in the room physically, but his mind was light years away.

The girl had returned. Even after what happened five years ago, she still had the galls to return to the place that had caused her so much trauma. She wasn't a girl anymore, but he still had the vision of a seventeen year old schoolgirl, with red hair and green eyes. It shouldn't been too difficult finding someone so blatantly different among the resident Japanese of Ikebukuro, but then again, he hadn't been able to track her down for the past five years, and figured out her whereabouts only the previous day, when an acquaintance in customs alerted him of a lady with a description given by him five years ago.

He thought she would never return, and that all the efforts and money he had spent in sponsoring her father's research were in vain. But she did return. At last. Why she had returned, Yagiri could not fathom. But she had, and this time, he was certain to make good use of her time here.

It was time for him to make the first move – get back at her for running away and destroying his dreams of owning supernatural beings.

His second move would be take in her, as well as her daughter, and hold them captive, and experiment on them. On Natasha however, he would take care not to use anaesthesia. He allowed himself that bit of sadism as he chuckled darkly, and reminisced the time when he spoke to redhead's father on the phone for the first time, almost twenty years ago.

 _###_

 _"The things that I hear about you are most interesting, Jonah-san. The fact that you can lift objects by simply using your head. Most fascinating. I now understand why you are so keen on leaving your previous employer and work for my company, since they obviously are unable to comprehend the sheer uniqueness of your talent."_

 _"Thank you, Mr. Yagiri. My sources proved right, you indeed are someone who would be willing to help me with my abilities, and finding a cure for them."_

 _"A cure? Why would you want to cure yourself? You are unique in your creation. I have quite a few extraordinary individuals like you, but none of them have wanted to cure themselves."_

 _"It's a curse, Mr. Yagiri. A real one. You won't understand it unless you have it. And with my background in Molecular Biology, I intend to ask you for your permission for your labs and expertise. Of course I'll see to it that you get a percentage of profits, but please. Allow me to do this."_

 _"You called it a curse, and that I wouldn't understand it unless I had it. Your manner of speech implies that you know someone who does. Who is it?"_

 _"…. My daughter, sir. She does. She's very young, and very powerful. There's a good chance that my research would not be beneficial to me, seeing as it is not very strong in me. Besides, I'm old, almost forty. She is a young child, there's a good chance I can cure her."_

 _"I understand your concerns. I would like you to work in my company. I will ask my legion of scientists to assist you in all your efforts. I ask only for three percent of your research proceedings. I shall see to it that you are undeterred in your mission. However, I do have one request, as your benefactor._

 _I wish to understand this mutation of yours to its root level._

 _Yes, I promise I will not stoop down to experimenting. Least of all with your daughter. After all, you are now a friend. I would never even dream of doing such a thing."_

 **###**

A knock on the door brought him out of his reverie.

"Come in," he said, coughing slightly to clear his throat. When he saw who had entered, his eyes briefly lit up. Not because the woman who entered was his niece.

But because of the gun she was holding in her hand.

"It was a good idea to send you to that army training camp in your tenth grade now, wasn't it Namie?" he asked, resting his chin in his palm.

"Not particularly. It meant I had to go for a month without seeing Seiji." Said Namie, glancing impatiently at her wrist watch.

"But it also means that she will now consider coming out of hiding. The fortissimo of Ikebukuro and her were lovers, you know." He tried again, trying to pique her interest with gossip. The foolish girl saw nothing beyond that brother of hers, he felt sorry for her, seeing as he would never return her feelings. But regardless, Namie was an important pawn here. Working so closely with Izaya, there was a good chance she would know something.

"I've heard. From Izaya, once before," she said disinterestedly. However, she saw her uncle's eyebrows rise in interest, and sighed. This was going to be a long day indeed. "Speaking of the man, he let me off early today. May I be excused for the day? I wish to go home."

"You do not wish to ask why I simply asked you to injure Heiwajima, and not kill him?" he prodded again. He needed Namie's cooperation now more than ever. But Namie would cooperate only if she was interested enough. She wasn't hurting for money, that was for sure. The only probable reason he could think of for her to continue working with Izaya was tha the dullahan head, in all likelihood was with him. He would bet his arm on it. Even if he had no solid proof for it.

"It would make more sense to kill him, I agree. But the chances of that happening are quite slim. May I _please_ leave now?" She said impatiently. The blond brute, this mysterious girl her uncle was trying to find, nothing mattered to her. The only thing that mattered was Seiji, and none of the former had anything to do with him. So she automatically didn't care.

Yagiri realised he was fighting a losing battle here. Namie may not have held much value for him on her own, but he couldn't dismiss her intense focus on her work, and the lengths she would go for it to be fulfilled. Right now Namie wasn't interested in this idea, so she wouldn't bother with spilling Izaya's sources to him.

But there was a way to get her involved. Bring Seiji into the picture.

Seiji was a high school student, and Natasha had been pursuing a Bachelor's in education degree. If she was back in Ikebukuro and wasn't the brute, it meant that she would be working. At a school.

A few phone calls made on his part ensured her a job at Raira High School. The idea was to bring Seiji into the picture, and create compromising scenarios, causing both Namie and his girlfriend to lose their minds and obsessively stalk her, unearthing any information on her.

And the sadist in him smirked maliciously. How interesting it would be to see her re-enter the same place that almost caused her to lose her sanity in the first place.

 **###**

 **AAAAAND IT'S DONE *sadistic cackling***

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	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15 everyone! Again, a flashback. Hope you like it!**

 **Please leave reviews! Reviews make me happy!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Durarara.**

 **CHAPTER 15**

"Damn that flea," muttered Shizuo under his breath as he resisted the urge to cause property damage. "I get a rare holiday and he decides to show up early in the morning. Damn it damn it damn it!"

He was storming down the pavement, and all the residents of Ikebukuro knew better than to stand in the way of an angry Shizuo Heiwajima. The pavement cleared out subsequently.

Shizuo kept going on aimlessly with his hands in his pockets for a while before he realised that he had lost the paper with Sophie's address. "Damn it!" he cursed himself. But then paused.

Why was he so hung up on that child? Why did it matter if he had her address or not? It wasn't like he would've gone to meet her, even if he had her address. He felt the same headache come on as the day before, and stopped walking abruptly. Going on like this was of no use. He leaned against a vending machine, pushed his purple shades up, and pinched the bridge of his nose in an attempt to quell the throbbing.

###

 _"Oh, come on Shizuo. It's the school fair! We should go for it." said Natasha, as she lay across from Shizuo on his bed. The latter's parents were out at work, and Kasuka had school. It was time for the Annual Raira Spring Fest, where the students of Raira Academy put up various stalls and events to promote the school, and encourage young students and their talents. A fun-filled affair. A place where lots of people gather. A place not meant for the infamous temper of Shizuo Heiwajima._

 _He turned his head to his right, and saw Natasha half sit on the bed, with her hands cupping her cheeks. As though she read his thoughts, her eyebrows furrowed and she let out a long sigh._

 _"Shizuo, I'm serious. I've never been to a Fest. Especially one as big as this. I really want to see it. Plus," she added, "There is a drama that we in the drama club are doing. I really want you to come and see it." Shizuo closed his eyes and he was about to tell her how it was a bad idea, and if she wanted to go, she should go with Shinra or Kadota, when she mentioned her own involvement in the fest. She was acting? Then he wanted to come and cheer her on. But then knowing the flea, the bastard would definitely do something to piss him off, and Shizuo realised that for Natasha's own sake, he should not go. No matter how much he wanted to._

 _He began – "Natasha, I don't think I should come-"_

 _"And I'm going with no one else but you." She said with an air of finality, and lay down again, her face turned away from him._

 _"Natasha-" said Shizuo, desperately wanting her to see his reason._

 _"Don't talk to me unless you've changed your mind about this."_

 _Shizuo nudged her elbow for a while, and finally she gave in and turned to his side._

 _"Why don't you want to come? And don't bother with the whole 'I shouldn't be around so many people because I'll only end up hurting them.'"_

 _Shizuo's veins pricked and, baring his teeth, he gripped her elbow with his hand and said, "You know what? You don't understand. You just don't. I hate violence, but when I see annoying people I can't stop myself. If I go to that Fair, and see the damn flea, who'll definitely do something to piss me off, what will you do then? Huh? There'll be so many people around, damn it! And what if some gang member shows up? Huh? And I go all out? What the hell will you do THEN?" he yelled out the last part while gripping her elbow, and in his blind rage, didn't notice Natasha's face scrunching up in pain._

 _Natasha noticed his rage induced fit, and with tremendous effort, released his grip on her arm. She could do it very slightly, he was a lot stronger than her physically. When she felt the pressure decrease slightly, she lifted her left palm and brought it to his cheek._

 _"Shizuo, Shizuo that's enough. Please, it's hurting me." She said, wincing in pain as she stroked his cheek as tenderly as she could. It worked, Shizuo's anger gradually subsided. His previously enraged expression was replaced with relief, at the anger going away. The relief soon turned into shock, and then pain on seeing his grip on her elbow. He immediately withdrew his hand. He stared at his hands, eyes widened with horror._

 _It had been a month since they were dating, and a month was a long time in Shizuo's books not to get violent at someone. He had conceded to let his guard down around her, to allow himself physical contact with her. As luck would have it, it hadn't worked out._

 _Natasha sat up, tears pricked in her eyes. The tears were because of the pain, but more so because of the fact that Shizuo had actually hurt her. She had thought all that while she would be immune to Shizuo's violent rampages. She had thought wrong._

 _She picked up her bag with her good hand and levitated the door open. She walked out, and slammed the door behind her. Shizuo was shaken from his reverie due to the noise, and ran after her. He caught up to her near the door._

 _"Natasha." He said, voice breaking._

 _"Stand away from me, Shizuo. Please." Came the reply, surprisingly steady._

 _"I'm so sorry Natasha. I didn't mean to, I swear." His voice broke. He went in front of her and blocked the door, silently pleading for her to stay, his eyes had a film of water over them, but he averted them out of shame._

 _"STAY AWAY FROM ME, SHIZUO!" she yelled back, and Shizuo, along with the flowerpots, the shoe rack, the curtains and other miscellaneous items were thrown back into the living room. And then she left, without looking back._

###

Very few incidents caused Shizuo as much misery as this one. He took off his shades from his forehead and wiped his brow with the back of his hand. He slipped in a coin into the vending machine and picked up the soft drink from below. He then walked off in the direction of the bridge where he knew he'd find Celty if she wasn't out on a job during the day. Granted he had just met them a couple of hours ago, but now he really needed to talk to someone. Celty seemed like the ideal person – there were very few people who believed that monsters like him deserved human attributes like feelings.

###

 _The sakura petals filled the air and covered the ground – it was spring, and the Annual Raira Spring Fest could not have chosen a better day to kick off. The sheer number of people was immense, and there seemed to be stalls at every few feet. Natasha smiled to herself – it was heartening to be among so many people in a festive atmosphere. Even if she hadn't organized a stall or actively taken part, she was in the English drama, which was going to take place in the evening. She had busied herself in the set arrangement throughout morning, even when there was nothing much to do, as she had already completed most of the final touches earlier in the week in anticipation of attending the fest with Shizuo. But that hadn't worked out so well, judging the events of the previous day….._

 _She had tried to find work to do in the drama department itself to get her mind off things, but when Shinra came by to talk and it slipped out that she had never seen a school fest, she was immediately dragged out by the over-enthusiastic future doctor, who was determined to introduce to her every single aspect of the fest._

 _"Ordinarily Orihara-kun would've done a better job at this, seeing as he is the Class Representative, but since he's busy, I thought I'd do the job." Natasha's mouth twisted in a grimace, but she tried to hide it from Shinra. There was a good chance that Izaya had asked him to do it, but Natasha chose not to comment on it. While exhausting, Shinra was actually a good person, and she liked spending time with him. She agreed to walk around with him._

 _From the around the corner, Shizuo smiled in relief. He felt immensely guilty about what had happened the day before, and was glad he could count on Shinra for being there for Natasha when he couldn't. Kasuka had coerced him into going for the fest, promising to be near him at all times to calm him down if things got intense. Shizuo motioned to Kasuka to follow them from a distance. He wasn't sure if Natasha wanted to see him just yet, but at he would definitely show himself to her for her drama._

 _Kasuka, being the intuitive boy he was, understood that there had been some disagreement between the two, but also knew that it would eventually get sorted out. After all, no one understood them better than the other. He followed Shizuo as the maintained a distance behind the two._

 _###_

Shizuo had just finished his soft drink and was leaning over the bridge railing, lighting up a cigarette when he heard the familiar neighing of a horse, followed by the screeching of tyres brought to a halt. He turned around to see Celty getting off her faithful steed Shooter and walk over towards him. She took her place next to him and leaned against the railing, taking in the light breeze.

After a while, she realised Shizuo had opened and closed his mouth multiple times. She realised he had something to say, but wasn't quite sure how to put it across. She decided to make the first move.

 _Is everything all right?_

Shizuo stared at her PDA for quite some time, the smoke from his cigarette forming a small cloud in front of him. Then he pulled it out and crushed it beneath his shoe.

"No, Celty. It isn't."

###

 **Chapter 16 should be updated in a while, I'm already 25% done with this.**

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	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer - I do not own Durarara**

 **CHAPTER 16**

"It seems that you've made yourself at home here, aye? Nice little place you've got,' said Izaya, sauntering into the room, side-stepping the pans that had fallen. Natasha initial surprise and shock had waned, replaced by certainty. She had been found. She had indeed expected some time to set herself up before things started to unravel, but Shizuo being shot and Izaya showing up at her doorstep confirmed her suspicions.

But if Yagiri hadn't made a move, it could mean one of two things – either he was just playing around with her, or he wasn't aware of her exact whereabouts. Natasha could drive herself up a wall thinking about the first situation, which would threaten her sanity. She was more inclined to believe the second situation.

However, there was still one thing to clear up. Had Izaya told Yagiri yet? She narrowed her eyes suspiciously at him. Izaya smirked at her, and with his hands still in his fur coat pockets, he spun around gracefully.

With his back to her, he answered her unspoken question. "Tasha-chan, if I would've told the people looking for you about your location, they would've found you by now."

Natasha mentally heaved a sigh of relief, but refused to release the tension in her shoulders. "How did you know about this place?"

"Ah, that's a most interesting answer, Tasha-chan. But I'll answer that only if you'll first answer mine."

Natasha was in no mood to play games, and was prepared to beat the answer out of him. But then she remembered her daughter sleeping in the next room, and decided cooperating with him would be faster.

"Alright then. What question do you have?" she asked his hunched back.

"There are two pairs of shoes by the door. One is a larger pair, definitely yours. The other one, however, is much smaller than yours, and is quite feminine. Like that of a child's. A young girl's, to be more precise." Izaya said this in a monotone, contrast to his earlier mocking. His back was still to her, and Natasha could not make out his expression. However, if he hadn't ratted her out earlier, he wouldn't do so now. Besides, Izaya was a smart man – he was bound to figure it out sooner or later. Her biggest worry, however, was how would he use that information against her, and if, or _when_ would he involve Shizuo.

She understood that there was no point in mincing words with the man. "Those shoes belongs to my daughter, Sophia Ascott."

"Your last name, huh."

"Yes."

"Any prizes for guessing who's the father?" asked Izaya with a hint of mockery, in an attempt to steer the conversation in the flow that he liked it – with him knowing everything, and other person being at a loss for words.

"Don't bother with that Izaya, you know the answer to that as well as I do. Do what you like with that information. You were never the type to listen to someone else's pleas anyway."

 _Shizuo's child._ Those words kept swimming around in his head. Not only had the brute got the lady, but had also cemented her affections for him. As pathetic it had sounded to him, he refused to believe it, but the truth was, he had waited. Waited to make a move. Waited until the brute made a mistake, a huge one, something so disastrous that she would never be able to accept him again. Now his waiting was all in vain. Because he lost the woman.

Noting Izaya's hunched shoulders, Natasha asked,"Izaya?" it wasn't like him to be so quiet.

Izaya shook his head, got back his nonchalant self, and turned around. "What can I do with information like this anyway? It's not like I can go to Yagiri personally anyway. My dealings with him have become a bit….. _complicated_." It was the truth. Yagiri had an inkling about the dullahan head being with him, not to mention Izaya had a great deal of dirt on his company. Their dealings were limited, and they mostly tried to avoid each other, save for that rare one time when the man came personally to his office. "He's not very fond of me."

"I can imagine why," said Natasha with a wry smile. "I hear your profession as an information broker ensures your name in all the shady activities of Ikebukuro."

"Shady activities, Tasha-chan? You wound me. I simply involve myself in places I know I will find interesting humans. I love humans, more than anything!"

Natasha smiled slightly and relaxed herself. This was the Izaya she remembered. Slightly psychotic, but nonetheless knew exactly what he wanted as the outcome.

But then she remembered. "You still haven't answered my question. How did you find this place?"

Izaya smirked. This was going to be interesting.

###

Shinra Kishitani was having a slow day. For some reason, he had had only two patients, and they had only minor lacerations, probably from a gang fight. He was sitting and cleaning his scalpels when his phone rang.

"Ah, my son! I see you're home! And my daughter-in-law?"

Shinra's erstwhile peace had been destroyed. "Ah, father. Celty has gone out for a job. And I thought we agreed for experimenting on her only once a week!"

"But Celty's kind is fascinating… And I want to know so much more about her! Besides, I can't turn down an offer from Nebula Corporation, you know. Plus she gets paid very well. You know that."

Shinra was not the type to lose it at anyone, but sometimes his father caused his eyebrow to twitch.

"You know very well that's beside the point, father…"

"Ah, but Shinra! That's not why I called! Wait a minute!" came the harried voice from the other side.

"Yes?" came the exasperated reply.

"I spoke to Seitarou Yagiri. You know him, right? He's an old friend of mine."

Shinra knew. He also knew then that things were going to get difficult. Or in Izaya's words, _Interesting_. "I know him."

"So I met him earlier today and he told me about the most wonderful creature! Apparently she looks human, but can make objects move with her mind!"

Shinra slammed his head on the table. When Izaya had called up to tell him about Yagiri knowing Natasha's whereabouts, he had an inkling that since the latter and his father were friends, Shingen would ask for his involvement. This conversation was going exactly where he didn't want it to, and there was nothing he could do about it.

"Shinra, you're there?"

"Yeah, yeah. I'm here."

"Apparently this creature was under Nebula's radar for quite some time until five years ago, and after that she vanished without a trace. But now it seems she has resurfaced again. And that too, in Ikebukuro!"

Shinra predicted Shingen Kishitani's next words before the latter had uttered them.

"I want your help in locating her. This would be as amazing as Celty! She's Irish too, you know. We could cut her up and see how her abilities work!"

"Ahh… Father? Don't you think you're going a bit too far? After all, isn't she a normal human like us?"

"Ah, Shinra. This is medical research. You know I can't turn down an offer which comes directly from Nebula's headquarters."

"What makes you think I can help you finding her? If she's so good at hiding herself, even from big companies like Nebula?" Shinra gave a slight nervous laughter at the end of the question, to diffuse the tension building up.

"Ah! That's where you come in, son. Seitarou tells me that this girl is your classmate from high school."

This was too soon for Shinra. Natasha had landed in Japan just yesterday, and things had already accelerated so fast. And his meddling father had involved himself. Shinra needed time to consult Natasha and Celty, and plan things out. Obviously, it went without saying that he wouldn't sell out Natasha, or her daughter, but he also needed a convincing argument to make his father sit out of this one.

"Shinra….." came his exasperated father's voice from the other end. "Is everything alright? You seem spaced out. You can tell your father anything, you know!"

'Ahh…. I'm just really tired. Shizuo-kun came over last night."

"Okay then, I'll leave you alone for some time. But get back to me about this exquisite creature, okay?"

There was a pause at the other end while Shinra mulled his words.

"Or….." continued Shingen, noticing Shinra's pause, and being the intuitive scientist, he concluded, "If you don't want to go along with this, and if she is a friend, I suggest you hide her well. Seitarou is well on her tail. Goodbye." He kept the phone.

Shinra took off his glasses and rubbed his forehead. He was tempted to call Natasha or Celty, but then it might just result in undue panic. He decided that he'd approach them only after having a plan of action.

He dialled up Izaya.

###

"You still haven't answered my question. How did you find this place?"

Izaya smirked and was contemplating about telling her the truth or not when his phone started vibrating. It was Shinra. Izaya immediately sobered. It had only been a few hours since he had warned him. This wasn't a good sign.

"Ah, Orihara-kun." Came Shinra's weary voice from the speaker. Natasha heard it too, and she came closer to the phone. Izaya didn't bother with motioning her away, since in all likelihood it involved her as well.

"Yes, Shinra. What's the matter?"

"Ahh…. It seems we have a problem." Izaya and Natasha waited with bated breath on the other side.

"My father called up, it seems that Nebula too has a lead on Natasha's whereabouts in Ikebukuro."

Izaya looked up at Natasha to gauge her reaction. She had closed her eyes and let out a big sigh _. So she isn't wasting any time in denial. She's already planning her next plan of action._

"But he doesn't know where exactly. I think he knows that I'm not too keen on helping him out with his research, so he's agreed not to say anything, but I just wanted you to know how things are progressing on this side."

"Ah, thanks for letting me in on this. I'll owe you one." Izaya hurriedly cut the call. "I'll get back to you later, Tasha-chan. I just realized I have some work to do. See you!" he said, running out the door. But then paused at the doorstep, as though remembering something. "Tasha-chan. A word of advice. Start looking for employment and societies. Get along with people. make contacts with people, and make sure you reach out to a large number of people. Agreed that this way Yagiri will be able to locate you faster, but it also means that more people will know of your existence and will notice you if something happens. You'll have an alibi at all times this way. See you!" he thus left, fur jacket fluttering behind him.

It was only once he left that Natasha realised that he hadn't yet answered how he had found out her place. But the fact that Izaya had decided to keep his mouth shut for the time being, and his advice at the end, proved to her at he was on her side, at least for the time being. There was a very real chance that he could switch sides later on, just to make things interesting, in his opinion, but at the moment everything was alright.

Natasha decided to listen to him and went out to knock on her neighbour's door, intent on introducing herself. She'd introduce Sophie to other kids in the building later on. They'd be a normal mother and daughter, at least for some time.

###

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	17. Chapter 17

**Okay everyone! Long chapter to compensate for the long wait! Here's chapter 17. And please, do let me know about the pacing of the story. Too fast? Too slow?**

 **PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW! REVIEWS MAKE ME HAPPY!**

 **Disclaimer - I do not own Durarara.**

 **CHAPTER 17**

 **One week later**

"Have you seen that hot new teacher? She's beautiful. If only I were older, I would've wooed her and taken her away from this hell hole like a knight in shining armour. What do you think, Mikado?"

The boy in question, with his head in the clouds, jolted from his erstwhile reverie about the girl he liked, and stared blankly at his former childhood friend, who was in his traditional melodramatic pose, one hand on heart and the other hand high up in the air, as if serenading. Mikado sighed, and hoped he had misheard Masaomi. She was a _teacher_ , for god's sake. For once in his life he hoped Anri would come soon to their usual lunch spot to meet them, just to distract Masaomi. But unfortunately, Anri apparently had some bug and had been granted an earlier leave from the day.

Oblivious to Mikado's inner musings, Masaomi continued, "Apparently she's a foreigner, and is teaching us English. Wow, an English lady teaching us English! For real!"

###

"Wait at the preschool for half an hour after it gets over, and play with the toys if you have nothing to do. Then I'll have my lunch hour, when I can come and pick you up. I have also spoken to the teachers about this. So you can stay here, okay?"

"Okay Mama."

Natasha beamed at her daughter. Here she was, finally at her first day of school, a week after coming to a new country. And she wasn't even crying, like so many else were, even half a year after they'd attended it. Raira pre-school wasn't very far from Raira High School, it was a five minutes distance. She could leave during her lunch break, drop Sophie home, have lunch with her, and still be back at school for the remaining two classes.

She thought back to the day her acceptance letter arrived from Raira. Most schools rejected her application letter, citing that they couldn't possibly hire a teacher in the middle of the school year. Which was fair enough. Two however accepted her, one being Raira and the other being a school on the other side of town. She chose Raira, because it was closer to where she lived.

Things had worked out well. Very well. Too well, in fact.

At the time she got her application, she was giddy with joy and anticipation at her luck, since Sophie had gotten into the preschool the day before. But now, as she walked down to Raira High School with a clear head, she couldn't help but think that way.

She sighed and shook her head. Now there was nothing that could be done. She accepted the position, and was determined to do a good job. Nothing would stand in her way. Besides, she had had enough of constantly looking over her shoulder while living. Now, she would live life on her own terms. In the city that first taught her to hope and to love.

In Ikebukuro.

###

She entered the teacher's lounge, which was just as she remembered it. The staff present greeted her with subdued enthusiasm, with pats on the shoulder as they left for their respective classes, promising her a better welcome during the lunch hour. Natasha ran her hands over her pencil skirt, smoothening it. She glanced at her schedule, and left for her first class.

She had not anticipated meeting the Saika mother and the Leader of the Dollars so early in the morning.

"Allow me to introduce myself," said the new English teacher in perfect Japanese. She was definitely not a Japanese native, considering her bright red hair, tied in a bun sitting atop her head, pale smooth skin, and bright green eyes. She was pretty, yes, but Anri Sonohara couldn't help thinking that there was something off about her. Something off, but remarkably similar to her own aura. She couldn't name it, but it was there. As if reading her thoughts, the teacher kept looking at Anri throughout the course of her introduction.

Anri shook her head, dismissing her actions as a figment of her imagination. After all, why would someone be interested in a person as low and depraved as herself?

"….studied in Japan for a few years, wherein due to unavoidable circumstances, had to shift to Geneva…" at this point, she shifted slightly, as though she were uncomfortable about the topic. At this point, Saika started calling out to her.

 _Love, love. Love. We have decided we love the woman. We wish to cut her. We wish to love her. Ascott. Natasha Ascott. We will remember that name. I love you, I love you, I love you Natasha. You're like us, Natasha. I love you, I love you, I love…"_

Most of the times, Saika would not be so persistent. Over the course of time, she had learnt to control and wield it well. The few times Saika did act on her own were the times when Anri was exposed to certain circumstances that left her vulnerable. Basically, Saika acted as a defense mechanism, which would strike when Anri was weakened. Weakened by love, hatred, fear, Saika did not distinguish. She only knew how to love, and would show her love by cutting. And would do it when Anri could not contain it. A type of symbiotic relationship, if you may.

However, this was a different situation. Anri was not threatened at that moment. She was in school, in a safe environment. Saika's sudden appearance had thrown her off and her eyes began going red. Anri struggled to contain it within herself when she felt a sword coming out from the left calf without her consent. She looked up at the teacher, who was still talking to the class. Saika's voice became louder.

 _I love her. I love her. I love, I love. I want to cut. I want to cut her._

Anri's eyes widened with fear when she felt the sword penetrate through the skin of her calf. It didn't hurt, it never did, but she did feel her skin tear up a bit. She continued resisting Saika's voice, even as it became louder and louder and eventually drowned out the teacher's voice. Her fists balled up, she screwed her eyes shut and decided to wait it out.

As soon as she made this decision she heard from across the room, someone murmuring, "Mother," and she heard the chair drag across the floor as he prepared to get up. _So Saika's children are in this class as well. Of course she would use them._

Before any untoward incident could happen, Anri sprang up from her seat. "Excuse me!" she said, in a panicked voice, and ran out of the room, far away from the teacher.

The boy, confused as to why he had gotten up, sat down again.

###

 _Received!_

"Oh, alright then, Black Biker. We'll call you again the next time we have a job. Thank you very much for you diligence." Said Haruya Shiki, lowering his head in gratitude. It never failed to amaze Celty that even after paying her so much for her services, he was still humble and polite, a stark contrast to a lot of her other clients. It may be so that she may not approve of the Awakusu-kai, but she had no problems with them personally. They treated her very well.

Waving her hand at him, she sped off into the sunset, intent on making it home before sunset and making Shinra dinner. _Yellow fishtail seems like a good idea. He seems to like it a lot._ She thought idly.

On the way back, she passed the bridge which she frequented, and recollected meeting Shizuo there almost a week ago. _I wonder how he's doing. He didn't seem in a very good phase of mind that time._ But one good thing that came out of it was that she finally heard of Natasha from the man himself.

###

 **A week ago**

Shizuo had just finished his soft drink and was leaning over the bridge railing, lighting up a cigarette when he heard the familiar neighing of a horse, followed by the screeching of tyres brought to a halt. He turned around to see Celty getting off her faithful steed Shooter and walk over towards him. She took her place next to him and leaned against the railing, taking in the light breeze.

After a while, she realised Shizuo had opened and closed his mouth multiple times. She realised he had something to say, but wasn't quite sure how to put it across. She decided to make the first move.

 _Is everything all right?_

Shizuo stared at her PDA for quite some time, the smoke from his cigarette forming a small cloud in front of him. Then he pulled it out and crushed it beneath his shoe.

"No, Celty. It isn't."

Celty, for some reason, had an inkling that it was with respect to Natasha. She couldn't explain why, but she knew. She let him continue.

"You know, I wasn't always alone. Like, how you have Shinra? I had someone too."

He sighed, and continued. "Her name was Natasha, Natasha Ascott. She was from Ireland, just like you. She was also not exactly human, like us."

Then he amended himself. "Nah, not like us exactly. People weren't afraid of her like they are of us. She looked human and behaved human. She was what is called… a mutant, I think."

Celty had heard this before from Natasha, but wanted to hear it from Shizuo again.

"She had superhuman abilities. Like, she could make things fly. Wait, there's a word for that….it's telekinesis." A ghost of a smile graced his face and Celty wondered about the story behind that. But decided to ask later. Shizuo wasn't one to talk about his past very often, she decided to just let him talk this time.

 _That's not very different from you. You're both humans with extraordinary abilities._ She couldn't help but point out.

"Yeah I know, but in Natasha's case, she's had her mutation since birth. She could control it really well. My case, however, it's not a mutation, it's just my temper. And….. We all know how well that works out." He unconsciously clenched his fists.

"I loved her, Celty. I loved her, then I lost her. I lost her quite a few times, actually. And every time I thought it was for good. But then she came back. She always did. Like, this one time…." He smiled sadly and shook his head. Then with a quirky expression, pointing to his shades, he said, "My purple shades."

The sudden change in topic threw Celty off. _Huh?_

"She bought it for me. At my high school fest."

 _You went to one of your school fests? Really? You didn't seem the type who would go around socializing with people, much less actually go to a fest._

"Ahh well…" He trailed off, scratching the back of his head awkwardly, "I wasn't gonna go. Not initially. But then, well….. I changed my mind." He ended abruptly.

 _I see. So how does that story go?_ She found herself asking, and surprised by it. She wasn't a gossipmonger, not by any means. She couldn't afford to be one, not with her job as transporter. She had never prodded Shizuo this way, but her curiosity about his relationship with Natasha took over. Not to mention, Shizuo might have noticed her sudden interest in his relationship, and could get suspicious. She apologized almost instantly.

 _It's okay if you don't want to, I mean, it's your business entirely. Ah! Look at the time. I'd better get going! See you!_

"Ah, okay Celty. See you some other time!" Waved Shizuo as he saw her climb into Shooter and speed off on the highway, confused by her sudden departure. And also, by her sudden interest in his relationship. He had no problem in telling her about it, she was a dear friend. But she had never before been so curious. Ah, maybe she was becoming more and more human by the day. He smiled, his heart felt lighter, as he walked back to his apartment, intent on calling Tom-san and getting back to work the next day, regardless of what his senpai had said earlier. All this free time was driving him mad, and making him remember things he didn't want to.

Not to mention, the damn flea early in the morning. His face deepened into a scowl as he remembered that the flea had taken that paper in his pocket. Not that he would do anything with that address written on that paper, he reminded himself silently.

Yes, he needed a distraction from all this. There were too many things happening in Ikebukuro. As if on cue, his chest tightened slightly. Not in pain, but like there was a weight sitting on top of him, and it didn't seem like one which he could simply push off with his superhuman strength. He was reminded of the cold chill he had felt in the morning, as he sat in the park, and clenched his fists.

Just who was the bastard framing all these events?  
Something told him it wasn't Izaya.

###

 **AAAAND THE FATEFUL PREMONITION ;)**

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